'Yes, mother, it will leave us, I fear, one thousand dollars worse than nothing, and that is not all.' 'That is bad enough, James, but I hope you cannot accuse yourselves of any wrong proceedings--any--' 'Nothing wrong, mother, that we can see; but we shall lose--we shall lose our credit, and that, mother, is worse than death.'--And Jim could stand no more; manly as he was, he covered his face, and gave way to a passionate burst of grief. Mrs. Montjoy spoke not until the violence of it was past, and then, in a very calm and soothing way, gave such counsel as her judgment best dictated. There is something in the tones of a mother's voice that goes at once to the heart of man. James felt the influence of her sweet words, lulling the violence of the storm within. Calmer views began to break upon him--a juster sense of the responsibility of his present situation. This was his hour of adversity, and he must act the man. Ned, too, began to feel his heart grow lighter. 'Come, Jim, let us keep up a good heart; things may come round right at last, and if the worst happens, we can go to work again in the old garden.' 'Ah, my son, you will often think of your boyhood's days in that garden: you worked hard, but you were light-hearted and happy, although you sometimes complained of back-aches and blistered hands.' 'Mother, I tell you what,' said Ned, 'heart-aches are worse than back-aches; the one you can sleep off, the other I don't believe we can get rid of in that way.' 'Yes, brother, now that we look back upon them, those were the happiest days, I think, that you and I will ever see; but we did not think so then. Now we cannot go back; we must, therefore, as mother says, meet this trouble like men, and urge our way along the best we may. Mother, I thank you for your dear good words, they have revived my spirit'--and he stooped and kissed her. 'And now, Ned, we have a great deal to do; let us be about it.' As soon as the brothers were alone, Jim showed that he was himself again, and in a very calm and business-like manner prepared for action. 'The first thing we must do, Ned, will be to see exactly how we stand. While you are attending to customers, I will make an abstract of our books. Then this evening, when the store is closed, we will take an account of our stock; we shall then know better our situation, and what course to pursue. We must put on a cheerful countenance, and keep straight along as usual, for to-day at any rate.' 'I don't know about the cheerful face, Jim, but I will do the best I can.' CHAPTER XX.