THE disaster was complete.

Not a single dollar of all Markland had cast so blindly into the whirling vortex ever came back to him.
Fenwick disappeared from New York, leaving behind conclusive evidence of a dark complicity with the specious Englishman, whose integrity had melted away, like snow in the sunshine, beneath the fire of a strong temptation.

Honourably connected at home, shrewd, intelligent, and enterprising, he had been chosen as the executive agent of a company prepared to make large investments in a scheme that promised large results.

He was deputed to bring the business before a few capitalists on this side of the Atlantic, and with what success has been seen.

His recreancy to the trust reposed in him was the ruin of many.
How shall we describe the scenes that followed, too quickly, the announcement by Mr.Markland that Woodbine Lodge was no longer to remain in his possession?
No member of the family could meet the stern necessity without pain.