It was useless to argue with him; besides the mischief, if mischief there was, had been done, and the not long-delayed entrance of the young couple necessitating a change of topic, I innocently inquired what he thought of the Negro Emancipation Bill which Mr. Stanley, as the organ of the ministry, had introduced a few evenings previously? and was rewarded by a perfect deluge of loquacious indignation and invective--during a pause in which hurly-burly of angry words I contrived to effect my escape. "Crowther & Jenkins!" exclaimed one morning, Mr. Flint, looking up from the "Times" newspaper he held in his hand. "Crowther & Jenkins!--what is it we know about Crowther & Jenkins?" The question was addressed to me, and I, like my partner, could not at the moment precisely recall why those names sounded upon our ears with a certain degree of interest as well as familiarity. "Crowther & Jenkins!" I echoed. "True; what _do_ we know about Crowther & Jenkins? Oh, I have it!--they are the executors of a will under which young Linden's pretty bride, that is to be, inherits her fortune." "Ah!" exclaimed Mr. Flint, as he put down the paper, and looked me gravely in the face--"I remember now; their names are in the list of bankrupts. A failure in the gambling corn-trade too. I hope they have not been speculating with the young woman's money." The words were scarcely out of his mouth when Mr. Linden was announced, and presently in walked that gentleman in a state of considerable excitement. "I told you," he began, "some time ago about Crowther & Jenkins being the persons in whose names Catherine Arnold's money stood in the funds?" "Yes," replied Flint; "and I see by the 'Gazette' they are bankrupts, and, by your face, that they have speculated with your intended daughter-in-law's money, and lost it!" "Positively so!" rejoined Mr. Linden, with great heat. "Drew it out many months ago! But they have exceedingly wealthy connections--at least Crowther has--who will, I suppose, arrange Miss Arnold's claim rather than their relative should be arraigned for felony." "Felony!--you are mistaken, my good sir. There is no felony--no _legal_ felony, I mean--in the matter. Miss Arnold can only prove against the estate like any other creditor." "The devil she can't! Tom, then, must look out for another wife, for I am credibly informed there won't be a shilling in the pound." And so it turned out. The great corn-firm had been insolvent for years; and after speculating desperately, and to a frightful extent, with a view to recover themselves, had failed to an enormous amount--their assets, comparatively speaking, proving to be _nil_.