"Because I accept the inevitable? Can you show me how I can improve matters?"
"No, I can't," answered Mr. Moss, with a deep groan; "only if I had capital I could make a fortune."
"In what way?"
"By joining the bears. Cohen, you have a grand chance before you. Your credit is good. There is nothing for it but a plunge. It will set you right. Luck has been with you all your life; it will be with you now."
"How if it goes the other way, Mr. Moss?"
"What if it does? You will be no worse off than a thousand men who are plunging."
"The majority of whom, before another sun rises, will find themselves disgraced. No, Mr. Moss, no. I have never dabbled in stocks and shares at the risk of my good name, and I never will. There is but one way to meet misfortune, and that is the straight way. We will go to the City and ascertain, if we can, exactly how matters stand. Rachel and Esther do not return from Bournemouth till the afternoon."
In the City they learned the worst, and Aaron realised that he was beggared.
"Can you save nothing from the wreck?" asked Mr. Moss.
"Nothing," replied Aaron. "It may be that all I possess will not be sufficient to clear me. I think you had better take Esther back with you to Portsmouth; you have been absent from your business too long."