And so they reached the close of the first year of partnership; and who shall say that the situation of Michael was an enviable one, or that the persevering man had not good cause for despondency and dread?  He was already deeply indebted to his wife; not one of his three partners had proved to be such as he expected and required.  Danger threatened from two of them:  Mr Bellamy had not afforded the support which he had promised.  A stronger heart than Michael’s might have quailed in his position; yet the pressure from without animated and invigorated him.  In the midst of his gloom, he was not without a gleam of hope and consolation.  As he had foreseen, the business of the house rapidly increased:  its returns were great.  Day and night he laboured to improve them, and to raise the reputation of the tottering concern; for tottering it was, though looking most secure.  For himself, he did not draw one farthing from the bank; he resided with his wife in a small cottage, lived economically, and sacrificed to his engrossing occupation every joy of the domestic hearth.  The public acknowledged with favour the exertions of the labouring man; pronounced him worthy of his sire; vouchsafed him their respect and confidence.  Bravely the youth proceeded on his way—­looking ever to the future—­straining to his object—­prepared to sacrifice his life rather than yield or not attain it.  Noble ambition—­worthy of a less ignoble cause—­a better fate!

The second year passed on, and then the third:  at the close of this, Michael looked again at his condition.  During the last year the business of the house had doubled.  Had not the profits, and more than the profits, been dragged away by Bellamy and Planner—­his ardent mind would have been satisfied, his ceaseless toil well-paid.  But the continual drafts had kept ever in advance of the receipts, draining the exchequer—­crippling its faculties.  Even at this melancholy exhibition, his sanguine spirit refused to be cast down, and to resign the hope of ultimate recovery and success.  He built upon the promise of Mr Bellamy, who at length had engaged to refund his loans upon a certain day, and to add, at the same time, his long-expected and long-promised quota of floating capital:  he built upon the illusions of Planner’s strong imagination—­Planner, who suddenly becoming sick of his speculation, alarmed at his responsibility, and doubtful of success, had been for some time vigorously looking out for a gentleman, willing to purchase his share and interest in the unrivaled Pantamorphica, and to relieve him of his liabilities; and had at last persuaded himself into the belief that he had found one. He likewise fixed a period for the restoration of a fearful sum of money, which Michael, madman that he was, had suffered him to expend—­to fling away like dirt.  Upon such expectation, Allcraft stood—­upon such props suffered his aching soul to rest.  There wanted but a month to the acceptable season when claims upon the house poured in which could not be put off.  Michael borrowed money once more from his wife to meet them.  He did it without remorse or hesitation.  Why should he have compunction—­why think about it, when the hour of repayment was so near at hand?  It was a proper question for a man who could slumber on a mine that was ready to burst, and shatter him to atoms.