Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1899-12-17

TO SEE THE MILLIONAIRE
raspinS voice Of the guard disturbed his
reverie. The car, he concluded. was too
full of people to suit his present fancy.
He wanted to be alone. First of all,
he wanted to count those bills, next 10 be
free to eXult i'll the possession of them,
unruft1ed 10y the contact of prying eyes.
Twenty eighth street, called the
guard.
Doolan made his way to the platform,
descended the steps and walked straight
toward Ninth avenue, thence on to the
tenement house overlooking the river in
which he lived.
Inside he climbed numberless flights of
stairs. reached his room, shut the door.
turned the key in the lock and. taking out
the envelope, examined its contents.
First there was letter. 1t was adj
dressed to Il we'll known multimilionaire.
II read thus:
] hand You herewith the cash to bind
verbal deal of last night $4,000, less IS for
stamps.
The signature was familiar as his own.
DoOlan sank into a chair, speechless.
Mechanically he stared about him at the
CHASTITY poverty of the room; at the mar
row bed covered by the soiled and worn
Counterpart: at the small and rickety
washstand, with its broken necked pitch
er; at the tiny cracked mirror hanging
crooked nail: at the bare and curtainless
window through whose dingy panes the
chill winter sunshine stepped languidly.
Then, burying his face in his hands. he
shut out the sight of it all and took to
dreaming dreams.
Ten Thousand dollarsi 1t was untold
wealth. Gaunt eyed poverty departed
from his threshold. never to return, and
gilded affluence beckoned him on. With
q sigh of rapture he followed.
No more tramping of endless streets in
the endless search for work, more
hunger. no more WEAKNESS of mind and
body and soul. and no more heartaches-
In that long white envelope lay the pan
acea for most evils the flesh is heir to.
1t was all well enough, he thought. for
those who sat at their ease in golden
chairs to talk of the nobility of poverty.
1t took a being of superhuman strength
10 bear up beneath the actual burden of
it. 1t took n philosopher, and he was no
philosopher.
He kicked Il corner of the ragged car
pet into place. arose. walked to the mir
ror and looked ut his face. 1t was I'M
shavcn. Before he could go TO Il decent
restaurant he must have shave. Well.
there was the money. He could afford
luxuries now lie would indulge in luxu-
ries.
All. the power OF money. As he put
he suddenly remembered little old wom-
an whom years before he had met in Z
boarding house III Cincinnati. She was
a friendless little old woman and home
less. Otherwise she would hardly have
spent her days i'll boarding house. One
evening. walking mp and down there in
the parlor. she had repeated a verse that
ran like this:
In country or town. as we walk up and down.
There Is no friend so true a dollar two.
Wise little old woman, He smiled as
he thought OF the envelope. tucked snugly
away in his vest pocket, in which there
reposed many a dollar or two.
And again he fell To dreaming.
BY and 10y an uneasy thought pervaded
the luminous brilliancy of his dreams.
That money! Was it his because he
found IL?
His conscience said cmphatically and
firmly. Mo- II belonged by rights to
the old man who had lost it.
But the old man was man Of wealth.
To him $4,000 was a mere bagatelle.
He could easily afford to lose that much
money every week of his life and not
miss it. for he was one of the rich men
of the world, railroad magnate, 4 null
timiIlionaire.
Doolan passed down Sixth avenue. 1t
was gay with shoppers jostling one an
other IN the blithe hurry of the Christ
mas time. Mingled with the brilliant
toilets of the rich women were the dingy
shawls of the women of the poor. On
the curb. next to n footman in livery
who awaited the pleasure OF his mistress,
a man in rags sold jumping jacks Near
him another wretched creature jerked a
small black mustache which unexpected |
~ stretched itself to an unseemly length, ;
much 10 the amusement of the passing
children Farther on a blind man sang
lodious voice. his closed eyes petitioning
humbly for pennies. Women rustling in
silkA wrapped in priceless furs and gilt /,