“No, no, don’t talk of it, Katie. I am not a man to give way. I was upset when I thought of you, dear, but I shall be only too proud and too glad to work for you; and as long as I have a pair of hands you may be sure, Katie, there is no need for you to talk of doing anything. Why, you little goose, have you no faith in me? I can do all sorts of things.” “Can you, Frank?” Kate said doubtfully; “well, we shall see, only let us trust each other, dear, and we can look the worst in the face.” “You are a darling, Katie, and I did not know what a treasure I had got. There, I feel all right again now, so I will go up to the city, perhaps things may not be as bad as they seem.” Frank, however, derived but little comfort from what he heard in town. The city was in a state of consternation. The break down of the Bank had been quite unexpected. The “Indian” had been looked upon as one of the most stable of the banks, and no one knew which might go next. The liabilities were described as tremendous. It was certain that the shareholders would have to pay up to their last penny, and that even then the depositors would suffer greatly. Frank went back again to Thurloe Square greatly depressed. “It is as bad as it can be, Katie,” he said, in answer to his wife’s questioning look when he entered. “It is no use deceiving ourselves. We shall be called upon to pay up every penny we have.” “Well, Frank,” Kate said, simply, “we have the consolation that it is no fault of ours, and I am sure, dear, we shall be very happy wherever we are.” “I am sure we shall, Katie.” “I suppose we shall not have to turn out just yet, Frank?” “Oh, no; there will be receivers appointed, and then the calls will be made. I should think it will be a couple of months before anything is settled.” “Ah! then, Frank, we need not worry ourselves; we shall have plenty of time to think over our plans.” At that moment there was a knock at the door, and Prescott entered. “My dear Frank! My dear Kate”—for Frank and his wife had long since insisted that their friend should so call her—“I am sorry for this. I only heard it this afternoon, for I never look at the money article; so directly I could get away from court, I ran down to see you. This is, indeed, a bad affair.” “It can’t be helped, Arthur,” Kate said, cheerfully; “it’s no use crying over spilt milk.” “Is it very bad, Frank?” “Every penny we have in the world, Prescott. It’s no use mincing matters.” Prescott sat down in consternation. “Don’t take it to heart, Arthur,” Kate said; “you see we are very comfortable over it.” Prescott could not answer for some time. At last he said,— “At least, Frank has one treasure left him.” “No nonsense, Arthur, else I shall be angry with you. Now please let us say no more about it till after dinner, and then we will hold a council. We will all go into Frank’s snuggery, and Frank shall smoke his big meerschaum; that always puts him in a good temper if he’s ever so cross.”