They had hoped against hope, and fought their suspicions until they were tired, and then they sought in sympathy to assuage the pangs of their losses and disappointments.
It was not until the end of two months after Mr.Belcher's departure that a letter was received at Sevenoaks from Mr.Balfour, giving a history of the Company, which confirmed their worst fears.

This history is already in the possession of the reader, but to that which has been detailed was added the information that, practically, the operations of the Company had been discontinued, and the men who formed it were scattered.

Nothing had ever been earned, and the dividends which had been disbursed were taken out of the pockets of the principals, from moneys which they had received for stock.

Mr.Belcher had absorbed half that had been received, at no cost to himself whatever, and had added the grand total to his already bulky fortune.

It was undoubtedly a gross swindle, and was, from the first, intended to be such; but it was under the forms of law, and it was doubtful whether a penny could ever be recovered.
Then, of course, the citizens held a public meeting--the great panacea for all the ills of village life in America.