“No, my boy; I would that it were not true. The distress that is abroad in the land because of this calamity is very great. Not only is all your fortune gone, Ted, but anything that you may have brought home with you will be taken to pay the creditors of the bank; and they require so much money that it would ruin you, though you had thousands upon thousands of pounds.”
A strange smile flitted across the youth’s face as he replied—
“What I brought home with me won’t benefit them much, for it lies with the wreck of the Rainbow at the bottom of the sea.”
This was indeed a surprise to the old couple, who now learned, for the first time, that the wrecked ship, about which a rumour had just reached them, was that in which their son had come home.
“But, father,” continued Jack, with a look of deepening anxiety, “if this be as you say, then my comrades must also be ruined, for their gold was all invested by Mr Wilkins in the same bank.”
“All ruined,” replied the old man in a sad tone. “Mr Wilkins himself is bankrupt—the first call brought him and many others down.”
“And yourself father; I hope you had no shares in it.”
“None, my boy, thank God. Prosperity has attended me ever since I got the first money you sent home. That saved me, Teddie.”
A gleam of joy overspread Philosopher Jack’s countenance as he started to his feet.
“Then am I well and undeservedly rewarded, daddy,” he exclaimed; “but all this news is pretty tough. I must go out to tackle it. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”