the dividends which had
been disbursed were taken out of the pockets of the principals, from
moneys which they had received for stock. Mr. Belcher had absorbed half
that had been received, at no cost to himself whatever, and had added
the grand total to his already bulky fortune. It was undoubtedly a gross
swindle, and was, from the first, intended to be such; but it was under
the forms of law, and it was doubtful whether a penny could ever be
recovered.

Then, of course, the citizens held a public meeting--the great panacea
for all the ills of village life in America. Nothing but a set of more
or less impassioned speeches and a string of resolutions could express
the indignation of Sevenoaks. A notice was posted for several days,
inviting all the resident stockholders in the Continental to meet in
council, to see what was to be done for the security of their interests.

The little town-hall was full, and, scattered among the boisterous
throng of men, were the pitiful faces and figures of poor women who had
committed their little all to the grasp of the great scoundrel who had
so recently despoiled and deserted them.

The Rev. Mr. Snow was there, as became the pastor of a flock in which
the wolf had made its ravages, and the meeting was opened with prayer,
according to the usual custom. Considering the mood and temper of the
people, a prayer for the spirit of forgiveness and fortitude would not
have been out of place, but it is to be feared that it was wholly a
matter of form. It is noticeable that at political conventions, on the
eve of conflicts in which personal ambition and party chicanery play
prominent parts; on the inauguration of great business enterprises in
which local interests meet in the determined strifes of selfishness, and
at a thousand gatherings whose objects leave God forgotten and right and
justice out of consideration, the blessing of the Almighty is invoked,
while men who are about to rend each other's reputations, and strive,
without conscience, for personal and party masteries, bow reverent heads
and mumble impatient "Amens."

But the people of Sevenoaks wanted their money back, and that,
certainly, was worth praying for. They wanted, also, to find some way to
wreak their indignation upon Robert Belcher; and the very men who bowed
in prayer after reaching the hall walked under an effigy of that person
on their way thither, hung by the neck and dangling from a tree, and had
rare laughter and g