The Washington herald., 1908-05-13
CHAPTER III.

Vsndraken had not slept much after
leaving Ancestors rooms. He was pay
ing eloO daily for his quarters. and there
were thousands that night. in the doss-
houses Of London, getting more sleep Cor
twopence.
Abdul Won Tarsenheim's letter had TAX
en- firm grip on his imagination.
Chimerical, fantastic. as the idea seemed,
he chung TO the possibility Of it With both
hands He knew he would be laughed
at for entertaining it-that 90 out of 100
would have regarded it as one more
scheme for trapping the willy millionaire.
But he also knew that it is not the
ninety-nine, but the one, who has always
done the impossible in this world
Hypnotism? Now. what could have
seemed more unlikely than that, before
it was demonstrated? The vast wealth
mis- father had made so quickly men
would have regarded as an impossible
ity a few years before. A French nov
elist had once projected the idea of the
possession Of a fabulous fortune For a
few years, people had said What Won
drOus imagination And now-why, he
himself could have bought up a dozen
Monte Cristos and kept them for pets.
He remembered his father saying TO him
once, Anything which can be thought
of can be done" and the judgment of a
father who had made 500 600 600 is not
to be despised.
Vandraken was possessed with the idea
of spending, but had, as yet, no very
clear idea Of how he would go about Il.
Il. a. L1fs
it to contain more money-spending ma
chinery than other countries. He felt
the ferment of youth working within him.
urging him on to all manner Of physi-
cal gratihCatiOn but that he knew.
would pass after few years. and be re-
placed by other desires. Still. while that
part of his life lasted, he wanted 10 live
it 10 the utmost. so that he could look
back and see that from his point of view,
as a spendeT, those years had not been
wasted
But a specter always stalked in upon
these dreams. II was a picture of him
self as he would be after few years
of the life: a bloated. purple-faced crea-
ture. TO whom women sold themseiY IS
with a shudder; whose appetites were
nothing but habits: whose nerves were
so blunted that he could no longer dis
tinguish between pleasure and pain. be-
tween the ugly and the beautiful. A
creature so repulsive, that no matter nog
tired he got Of the life, he could never
lead and other-win the love of some
really nice girl, be the pstron and pro-
moter of all that was best in art, litera-
tuTe, and the drama, be the best shot
and the best rider of his day carry out
single one of the plans for the next
phase of his life.
The abiiIty to look forward. which mad
enabled his father to see and remove all
obstacles before he came TO them. had
been transm tied to the son. Vandraken
knew that unless ne could find some way
to remove the grisly speeter he would
have to abandon that part of his dreams,
and only SOW thin crop of wild oats.
such as any poor devil on ten thousand
a year could SOW; a crop which would be
no credit 10 any one, least Of all 10 the
richest young man In the world. Every
day he lived he was reminded more and
more forcibly of this fact so that his
mind-which had really been working tor
a long time on this subject-was abso-
lhtely prepared for the suggestion con-
tanned in Abdul Won Tarsenheim's letter
Instead of appearing, as it would have
appeared 20 any ordinary mind, as a
monstrous absurdity, it simply filed in
Vandrakens a long-fe't want
A curious crowd had collected outside
the Ritz Hotel, for il had leaked out that
the motor waiting at the entrance be-
longed 70 Vandraken. The halfpenny
newspapers had thoroughly whetted pub