and
he raged like a beast of prey. Joseph attached his furniture at his
dwelling, but found it had all been made over to his son--a young
lawyer in the city; meanwhile the dishonest man had fled with his
ill-gotten gains, leaving the business in a frightfully complicated
state. The result was, as is often the case when a man begins to go
down in his affairs, although he may be ever so deserving and
innocent, there are enough to give him a push. It was so with him. In
vain did Joseph, by his books, show that he was doing well up to the
cruel embezzlements, and that if he was dealt leniently with, he could
recover his standing, and go on as prosperously as before; his
creditors, one after another, ferociously pounced upon him; he got
through one trouble only to meet another, until utter failure came.
The effect on Joseph was lamentable in the extreme. He sat by his fire
at home, day after day, for weeks, with his head buried in his hands,
in utter despair. Had some kind friend stepped forward and started him
anew, what a deed of mercy it would have been! But the men whom he
accommodated with money, when prosperous, turned their backs upon him
now.

"Recovering somewhat from the shock, he sought again and again for
employment; but his short-sighted and relentless creditors would
factorize his earnings, and thus oblige him to leave."

"Factorize!" asked Tom, interrupting her; "what is that?"

"Why," said the mother, "if a man owes another, the creditor attaches
his wages, and when the man presents his bill to his employer, he
finds that he cannot pay him anything. In vain he went to distant
places to earn a subsistence. Shrewd lawyers were put upon his track;
he was ferretted out, until, discouraged, he came to me one day, and
said,--

"'Mary, the hounds are after me from morning till night. They dog my
steps wherever I go, and give me no chance to retrieve my fortunes. I
am going to the west; and it isn't right to hold you to your
engagement any longer, for I can never, on my part, fulfil it. The
odds are against me here, and, what is worse, I've lost my courage and
hope; I have come to bid you good by.'

"'If you do not care for me any longer,' I said, 'say so. You've
struggled hard, and have merited a better result; it isn't your fault
that you have failed. God forbid that I should break my promise. If
you must go west, you are not going alone. I shall go with you, and
shall this very night tell my parents all ab