Then he rose and paced the room rapidly, gazing wildly round him at all the pomp and circumstance of wealth that surrounded him, and comparing it bitterly with the future beggary which he saw impending. But ere he had taken more than two or three turns, the door opened, and his brother entered. "What is the matter, Arthur?" he said. "Something has agitated you terribly." Mr. Tracy stooped, picked up the papers from the floor, and put them in his brother's hands, with the simple word, "Read!" General Tracy did read, and his countenance fell for a moment. He instantly recovered himself. "A heavy loss, Arthur," he said; "and lost in a very foolish manner. I like plain, straight forward gaming better than this; but still the affair might be worse. Do not give way after this fashion. We must meet the matter as it can best be met. There is enough between you and me to cover more than this; and you know, my dear Arthur, I have none but you and the two sweet girls--and that little devil of a boy. A hundred a-year he must have; that I have settled in my own mind. The girls must have their fortunes. That must be done; but still the two estates will bear more weight than all these sums; and if not, there is my pay. Two old men do not need much, Arthur; and we shall have enough for a beefsteak and a bottle of wine, notwithstanding." Mr. Tracy pressed his brother's hand, murmuring, "Oh, Walter, how can I involve you in my ruin? Besides, large sums will be required immediately, or I shall be disgraced." "Poo, poo!" said General Tracy; "no man is ruined so long as he has a bed to sleep on, clothes to wear, a house to cover him, and food to eat. We shall want none of these things, Arthur. We shall be as rich as Sandy Woodyard, who is reckoned very well to do; and, as to raising large sums, that will be easily done, without any loss of time. But your thoughts are all in confusion with this unexpected stroke. Cast the whole from your mind for to-night; come back into the drawing-room, and do not let either the baronet or the parson see that you are troubled; sleep quietly over the affair, and we will arrange the whole to-morrow. I can raise seventy or eighty thousand pounds at a day's notice. You can double that; and all I can say, my dear brother, is, that, barring a fair provision for the two girls, I care not a rush what becomes of the rest. Besides, some of the shares are worth something. It is not all lost." "Heaven forbid!" answered Mr. Tracy; "but the actual loss is immense; more than you know, Walter."