The Washington herald., 1908-05-11

ridge shoot in Norfolk. He had takeT
time 10 study his children, and know
them, and teach them the philosophy OF
life. The poor and oppressed had had
their share of his wealth His son was
a power IN politics.
One day he asked Vandraken. sr, when
he was going to stop work and begin 70
enjoy himself. and 20 live.
when 1 am the richest man in the
world. or when I am dead. Not before,
was The answer.
Then his friend compared the lives they
had both lived, and asked him whether,
If he could live his life over again, he
would live for the money game or live
for life. and the old Croesus broke down,
and confessed that his life had passed in
a fever, that ne was weaithomaniac,
and incurable; that he could not stop
the game, because he had no other inter-
ests Ia life, and It was too late 10 ac-
quire them. But he remembered he had
a son and he made a resolve. He would
live again in that son. All the things
/ he had not done, all the money he had
not spent. that son should do and spend
AS a first step toward the realization OF
| his plan he sent the boy TO Harrow.
His wife having recently died, and there
| being no one TO spend the money, it
| piled Up prodigiously.
| When Standish Vandraken had been
at Harrow for three years his father
died. but not before he had dinned into
his sons ears that he was to spend
money, not make it. Perhaps he hoped
to be conscious in some other world that,
on the earth he had left. bone of his
bone, flesh OK his flesh, was doing all
| the things he had left undone. weaving
offf of hc fof
threads ne had left behind
The boy came back TO America for his
fathers funeral, and entered Harvard,
which, in spite Of an allowance equal TO
the Presidents salary, did not turn him
cut as eonceited as the average college
boy; Harrow had seen 60 that. He had
inherited brains, too, and had a sense of
humor-both enemies Of conceit.
1t would have been better If he had
had less brains, for the creative faculty
having reached a climax in his father.
could go no further; SO it reacted. and
manifested itself as a destructive force
in the son. But he had inherited no sense
of the responsibility Of wealth, 40 school
or college had taught him how it was
made, or that il was concentrated essence
of labor, dangerous to spend without
much thought. equally dangerous 10 keep
and accumulate. An explosive in the
hands of a boy, and that boy playing
with it in crowded thoroughfares.
He could NOT see the danger of such
concentrated wealth. either TO himself
or TO the community which had helped
in its concentrations but he could see
great possibilities of personal enjoyment.
IL would. OF course. take careful plan
ming. He mapped of his life into sec
tions, SO many years for the lust Of
the flesh. so many for the desire Of the
eye. Looking forward he saw clearly
that enjoyment existed only in contrast.
He was a materialist born and bred: he
was as material as all his world viii be
IN few years. unless some great reac-
ton sets IN. They say that the worship
instinct exists In every one. Vandraken
worshiped the physical. the spiritual
had no meaning for him. Something
which was called conscience bothered
him. but he only regarded it as an in
convenient survival from Puritan davs.
much as the surgeon regards the survival /
OF the appendix; that conscience was a
call from the spiritual world would have
seemed absurd 10 him.
Consequences were something to be 4
reckoned with, rocks to be carefully navi- I
gated. The appalling fact that vast 1
wealth carried no added capacity Of en- 1
joyment was another difficulty in the I
way Of mapping cut his life. But as
his father and grandfather had overcome /
problems In the steel business. he hoped
% find a way out Of the circumscribed 4
physical limits he found so annoying.
In the map Of his future life the larR-
est space was given up to hIarriaFe.
only 1t must be with his ideal woman.
and after he had created a background
Of stormy JOYS, as a contrast against
which the calm Of married life would be
peacefully restful In the pride Of youth
ana wealth, he thought that he could
plan his life. He mistook the laughter
u the gods for the smiles OF the world
TO BE CONTINUED TOMORROW