“Every cloud,” says the proverb, “has a silver lining,” and so I did not despair. “This blow,” I thought “may be beneficial to my children, if not to me.” They had been brought up in luxury; accustomed to call on servants to attend to every want; and almost unlimited in the expenditure of money. My daughter Helen, especially, was naturally extravagant. She was a warm-hearted, generous girl, who knew literally nothing of the value of money and the difficulty of acquiring it. At this time she was fifteen years old, and was attending a French boarding school in the City of Washington. A few days after the news of my failure was published in the papers, my friend, the Rev. Dr. E. H. Chapin, of New York, was at my house. He had long been intimate with my family, and was well acquainted with the extravagant ideas and ways of my daughter Helen. One morning, I received a letter from her, filled with sympathy and sorrow for my misfortunes. She told me how much shocked she was at hearing of my financial disasters, and added: “Do send for me immediately, for I cannot think of remaining here at an expense which my parents cannot afford. I have learned to play the piano well enough to be able to take some little girls as pupils, and in this way I can be of some assistance in supporting the family.” On reading this I was deeply affected; and, handing the letter to Dr. Chapin, I said: “There, sir, is a letter which is worth ten thousand dollars.” “Twenty thousand, at the least!” was the exclamation of the Doctor when he had read it. We were now living in a very frugal manner in a hired furnished house in Eighth Street, near Sixth Avenue, in New York, and our landlady and her family boarded with us. At the age of forty-six, after the acquisition and the loss of a handsome fortune, I was once more nearly at the bottom of the ladder, and was about to begin the world again. The situation was disheartening, but I had energy, experience, health and hope. CHAPTER XXVII. REST, BUT NOT RUST. SALE OF THE MUSEUM COLLECTION--SUPPLEMENTARY PROCEEDINGS OF MY CREDITORS--EXAMINATIONS IN COURT--BARNUM AS A BAR TENDER--PERSECUTION--THE SUMMER SEASON ON LONG ISLAND--THE MUSEUM MAN ON SHOW--CHARLES HOWELL--A GREAT NATURAL CURIOSITY--VALUE OF A HONK--PROPOSING TO BUY IT--A BLACK WHALE PAYS MY SUMMER’S BOARD--A TURN IN THE TIDE--THE WHEELER AND WILSON SEWING MACHINE COMPANY--THEIR REMOVAL TO EAST BRIDGEPORT--THE TERRY AND BARNUM CLOCK FACTORY OCCUPIED--NEW CITY PROPERTY LOOKING UP--A LOAN OF $5,000--THE CAUSE OF MY RUIN PROMISES TO BE MY REDEMPTION--SETTING SAIL FOR ENGLAND--GENERAL TOM THUMB--LITTLE CORDELIA HOWARD.