Richland beacon. [volume] (Rayville, La.) 1869-1890, 1877-04-21

oIolc Vi cACiICuoht. IiC uIScu Hc W
invest another thousand but I refused,
though greatly tempted by his represen-
tations. The next night he made pro-
digious effort to look cool and uncon-
cerned as he laid before me a package Of
grcenbacks amounting to $3.50.
"There," said he, Il doubled your
thousand in two days, and l could have
done the same if it had been two thou.
sand or ten thousand. You might have
made 81, 800 as easy as $3.50.
looked grave as l reflected that this
was undoubtedly the fact.
What have you done with your
s25O?" inquired.
Bought Erie, OF course. III treble
it. sure"
cross-questioned him closely, went
over the newspaper reports once more,
and then took my resolution. Calling
for pen and ink l filled up blank check
and SAID, handing him the package of
greenbacks.
"Here is $3.50 in cash, and here i. a
check for 81, 700. Go in and win"
Thornton jumped up and grasped my
hand, eAclaiming:
you're man of nerve. You deserve
to be rich"
"Well," said l, "it depends a good
deal on you. See that you make no
mistake
Never fear, said he, you'll be worth
500, 900 before you know it."
after some further conversation we
parted, my occasional misgivings being
speedily dispelled by delightful visions
of sudden wealth.
You will see that ! had put into
| Thornton's hands the whole of my little
inheritance together with two years in
terest, which had allowed to accumu-
late, my salary for the last two years
having been amply sufficient for my
wants. / am satisfied that it would
have been lucky thing for me if l had
lost every cent of it. But. as it hap
pened, Thornton's instinct was not at
fault, he sold out at just the right mo-
ment, and found myself as he had pre-
dicted, worth $4,000 besides several
odd hundreds with which l INDUCED in
champagne, game suppers, and some
other expensive luxuries which l had
hitherto entirely avoided.
had selfcontrol enough to deposit
my money in bank, keep my secret, and
attend steadily to my regular business.
Thornton, too, kept mis- affairs from his
employers, but continued 10 speculate
with his share of the profits made off my
capital, and with such success that in a
few months he was worth as much as l..
Ny resolution to be satisfied with what
had made, and tempt fortune no more,
gradually vanished as noted his con-
tiuued prosperity, and when he came to
me with secret information Of projected
movement in leading stock, which prom
ised results of the most fattering charac-
! ter, and told me he had invested every
cent he had in that stock, / readily
agreed to do the same. At first every
thing went we'll. The stock began to
rise slowly, and at one time we might
have made four or five thousand apiece
by selling, though neither of US thought
of that for moment. Then there came
lull, and then, without a moment
warning, the stock tumbled with such
frightful rapidity that, before we
realized it, our little fortunes were swept
away. Thorton made haste to sell. but
we found ourselves $1,000 in debt, and
with no consolation except that some
dozen INTERPRETATIONS had been cleaned
out in the same style as ourselves.
shall not soon forget oui meeting
after this disaster. / could not reproach
Thorton, for his losses were as heavy as
mine, and it was he who rescued us from
the dilemma of having to pay 1000 be-
tween US at once without funds, or have
our transactions exposed to our respec-
tive employers.
al have friend,'' said he, "who will
shave our joint note for fair discount,
and before it comes due, we shall have
time to get on our feet again."
1 cannot say. liked the su question,
but there was no alternative. Thornton
introduced me to his friend, the note
| shaver, Mr.. Jackson, a cunning, oily
man, with disagreeable expression Of
countenance, though his manner was
singularly polite, considering that we
could furnish no security. However,