* * * * *

CHAPTER VII.

THE END OF THE BEGINNING.

Abraham Allcraft, with all his base and sordid habits, was a beggar. His
gluttony had been too powerful for his judgment, and he had speculated
beyond all computation. His first hit had been received in connexion with
some extensive mines. At the outset they had promised to realize a
princely fortune. All the calculations had been made with care. The most
wary and experienced were eager for a share in the hoped for _el dorado_,
and Abraham was the greediest of any. In due time the bubble burst,
carrying with it into air poor Abraham's hard-earned fifty thousand pounds,
and his hearty execrations. Such a loss was not to be repaired by the
slow-healing process of legitimate business. Information reached him
respecting an extensive manufactory in Glasgow. Capabilities of turning
half a million per annum existed in the house, and were unfortunately
dormant simply because the moving principle was wanting. With a
comparatively moderate capital, what could not be effected? Ah, what? Had
you listened to the sanguine manufacturer your head would have grown giddy
with his magnificent proposals, as Allcraft's had, to the cost of his
unhappy self, and still unhappier clients. As acting is said to be not a
bare servile exhibition of nature, but rather an exalted and poetic
imitation of the same, so likewise are the pictures of houses, the
portraits of geniuses, _the representations of business facts_, and other
works of art which undertake to copy truth, but only embellish it and
render it most grateful to the eye. Nothing could _look_ more substantial
than the Glasgow manufactory on paper. A prettier painting never charmed
the eye of speculating amateur. Allcraft was caught. Ten thousand pounds,
which had been sent out to bring the fifty thousand back, never were seen
again. The manufacturer decamped--the rickety house gave way, and failed.
From this period Allcraft entangled himself more and more in schemes for
making money rapidly and by great strokes, and deeper he fell into the
slough of difficulty and danger. His troubles were commencing when he
heard of Mildred's serious illness, and the certainty of his speedy death.
With an affectionate solicitude, he mentally disposed of the splendid
fortune which the sick man could not possibly take with him, and contrived
a plan for making it fill up the gaps which misfortune had opened in the
bankin