Explore "A Daughter of Israel" by Fred M. White on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Like a tiny snowflake, rolling downwards till it becomes a mighty avalanche, the news spread, gathering as it went, till all Westport knew that Armstrong's Bank had failed. It came to Mark Lockwood as he was seated in his office; it reached Ida and Miriam in their quiet seclusion. As it spread, the news came to Sir Percival Decie out at The Moat, and it turned him faint and sick, for he knew at last that ruin stared him in the face. It reached Abishai Abraham, who heard it calmly enough. He gave a few orders quietly, and later in the day the gossips of Westport had further food for scandal, for there was an execution in Sir Percival Decie's house. One instalment of interest on Abishai's loan was overdue--not that this troubled him much, because the hour of his triumph was at hand. Miriam heard this, and straightway made her way to The Moat, intending to confound the schemers and set Sir Percival free.
Meanwhile the Baronet sat at his breakfast-table, holding a note--the note telling him of Armstrong's suspension--in his hand. His face was white and drawn, all his pride shattered by one blow. Victor sat opposite, vague and uneasy, waiting for his father to speak.