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THE BANKING HOUSE

A HISTORY IN THREE PARTS.  PART III.

CHAPTER I.

SYMPTOMS OF ROTTENNESS.

Michael Allcroft returned to his duties, tuned for labour, full of courage, and the spirit of enterprise and action.  Discharged from the thrall which had hitherto borne hard upon his energies, and kept them down, he felt the blessed influence of perfect Liberty, and the youthful elasticity of mind and body that liberty and conscious strength engender.  Devoted to the task that he had inflicted upon himself, he grudged every hour that kept him from the field of operations.  Firm in his determination to realize, by his exertions, a sum of money equal to his parent’s debts, and to redeem the estate from its insolvency, he was uneasy and impatient until he could resume his yoke, and press resolutely forward.  Rich and independent as he was, in virtue of the fortune of his wife, he still spurned the idea of relying upon her for his release—­for the means of rescuing his fathers name and house from infamy.  No; he saw—­he fancied that he saw a brighter way marked out before him.  Industry, perseverance, and extreme attention would steer his bark steadily through the difficult ocean, and bring her safely into harbour:  these he could command, for they depended upon himself whom he might trust.  He had looked diligently into the transactions of the house for many years past, and the investigation was most satisfactory.  Year after year, the business had increased—­the profits had improved.  The accumulations of his father must have been considerable when he entered upon his ruinous speculations.  What was the fair inference to draw from this result?  Why—­that with the additional capital of his partners—­the influx and extension of good business, and the application of his own resolute mind, a sum would be raised within a very few years, sufficient to reinstate the firm, to render it once more stable and secure.  And then—­this desirable object once effected, and the secret of the unfortunate position of the house never divulged—­the income which would afterwards follow for his partners and himself, must be immense.  It was this view of the subject that justified, to his mind, the means which he had used—­that silenced self-reproof, when it accused him of artifice, and called him to account for the deception he had practised upon his colleagues.  It must be acknowledged, that the plan which he proposed held out fair promise of ultimate success and that, reckoning upon the united will and assistance of his partners, he had good reason to look for an eventual release from all his difficulties and cares.  Yet it was not to be. “We still have judgment here.” Punishment still comes to us from those whom we would circumvent.  It was in vain that Michael set foot in the Bank with an indomitable and eager spirit; in vain that he longed to grapple with his fate—­resolute to overcome it.  The world was against him.  The battle was already decided.  His first hard struggle for deliverance was coincident with his last hour of earthly peace.