How his own pride, self-consequence, and self-sufficiency had been crushed out of him! And not only in spirit was he humbled and broken.

In his anxiety to settle up the estate of Mr.Elder, and thus get the sword that seemed suspended over his head by a single hair, removed, he had overstepped his ability.

The houses referred to were burdened with a mortgage of nearly ten thousand dollars; this had, of course, to be released; and, in procuring the money therefor, he strained to the utmost his credit, thus cutting off important facilities needed in his large, and now seriously embarrassed business.
It is the last pound that breaks the camel's back.

This abstraction of money and property took away from Jasper just what he needed to carry him safely through a period of heavy payments, at a time when there was some derangement in financial circles.

In less than a month from the time he settled the estate of Reuben Elder, the news of his failure startled the business community.