a hole to creep through, then, and not till then, did he put these various questions to himself; and since it is somewhat singular that so shrewd a man should have waited until the last moment to put queries of such vast importance to himself, I shall dwell here for one brief moment on the fact, be it only to remind and to warn others, equally shrewd and equally clever, of the mischief they are doing when they postpone the consideration of their motives and acts until motives and acts both have brought them into a distress, out of which all their consideration will not move them an inch.  “Why have I done?” was, is, and ever will be, the whining interrogative of stricken inability; “Why am I about to do?” the provident question of thoughtful, far-seeing success.  Remember that.

I am really afraid to say how much of poor Margaret’s fortune was dragged from her—­how little of it still remained.  It must have been a trifle, indeed, when Michael, with a solemn oath, swore that he would not touch one farthing more, let the consequences be what they might.  Could it be possible that the whole of her splendid inheritance had shrunk to so paltry a sum, that the grasping man had ceased to think it worth his while to touch it? or did the dread of beholding the confiding woman, beggar’d at last, induce him to leave at her disposal enough to purchase for her—­necessary bread?  Whatever was his motive, he persisted in his resolution, and to the end was faithful to his oath.  Not another sixpence did he take from her.  And how much the better was he for all that he had taken already?  Poor Michael had not time to enquire and answer the question.  He could not employ his precious moments in retrospection.  He lived from hand to mouth; struggled every hour to meet the exigencies of the hour that followed.  He was absorbed in the agitated present, and dared not look an inch away from it.  Now, thanks to the efforts of her people, England is a Christian country; and whenever fortune goes very hard with a man who has received all the assistance that his immediate connexions can afford him, there is a benevolent brotherhood at hand, eager to relieve the sufferer’s wants, and to put an end to his anxiety.  This charitable band is known by the name of Money-lenders—­Jewish money-lenders; so called, no doubt, in profound humility and self-denial, displayed in the Christian’s wish to give the honour of the work elsewhere, reserving to himself the labour and—­the profit.  When Michael needed fresh supplies, he was not long in gathering a gang of harpies about him.  They kept their victim for a while well afloat.  They permitted their principal to accumulate in his hands, whilst they received full half of their advances back in the form of interest.  So he went on; and how long this game would have lasted, it is impossible to say, because it was cut short in its heighth by a circumstance that brought the toppling house down, as it were, with a blow and a run.