Bessie Watson was terrified by the fearful aspect of Mr. Fairfield when he entered the room, and for weeks the awful expression upon his face haunted her like the vision of a midnight ghost. Levi was startled, and Mrs. Fairfield, accustomed as she was to the ways of her husband, was deeply moved by his singular conduct. When he was ailing, he was subject to fainting fits; but he had never appeared so badly as on the present occasion.
The miser trusted no person, had no confidence in any one, not even in his wife. He had not told her that he had four thousand dollars in gold in the house, for he feared that she might be tempted to rob him of his treasure. Mrs. Fairfield, therefore, did not comprehend his despairing utterances when he announced the loss of his money.
Levi and his aunt conveyed the senseless form to the front room, and after working over him nearly half an hour, he came out of the fit, but only to suffer the most intense agonies at the loss of his money.
"What on airth is the matter with you, Nathan?" asked his wife, when, after another examination of the hole in the wall, he appeared in the kitchen again.
Bessie had gone home; but Levi remained, to render any assistance in his power in putting the house to rights.
"O!" groaned the miser, heavily, as he paced the room with furious strides.
"Can't you tell what ails you?" continued Mrs. Fairfield.
"It's all gone," gasped he, with a prolonged sigh.
"What is it? What's all gone? Why don't you tell a body what has happened?"
"My money is all gone! Somebody has stolen it—robbed me, ruined me!"