The Washington herald., 1914-06-14

" man was phenomenal. The most
5 vigiiant, the most wary, ths
most experienced. are those whom it de-
lights to cxtinguish. and thus John Du-
plane, Of the Chicago Stock Exchange,
pepuisriy known as Lucky John" vaa
caught, bankrupted. and then butchsred
by wheat He fell from riches to ruin in
0 single day. 81
During his exciting life. John Duplane
had never done q useful thing. He had
added amazingly to his own wealth. but
not to that Of his nation. When he gained
money. it was at some one else's expense.
and the loser deserved no sympathy, for
he would as ruthlessly have squeezed
the coin out Of Dupisne had luck turned
his way.
A very different sort of citizen was An
drew Dupiane, elder brother Of the wheat
speeai.tor. Andrews cautiousness Of
fered a striking contrast to the other .
recklessness. Beginning in small way
to manufacture, his business In Cleveland
had grown with the growth Of that city.
Once he wrote mildly to his brother
john, who had just brought OF . spec
tacular and highly successful coup on
the stock exchange, urging him to leave
such a dangerous occupation as gambling
and join him in the Cleveland factory.
He made depreciatory observations re-
Earding speculation, and at these John
took sffense.
"PH give you advice for advice" wrote
1.-THE younger brother curtly. you attend
to your own business"
Andrew toek johns advice: John did
not take Andrews. At the time that
John died, burned out before his time. As
one might say, Andrew had formed his
business into a limited liability company
and had retired, a very wealthy man, to
spend the rest Of his days In a mansion
on Euclid avenue.
He was a very wise, benign old man,
one. Whether because of his wisdom,
. his benignity. OF his caution. or a COM
bination of all three, Andrew had re-
malned a bachelor, and John, who weil
knew the uncertainty of his own occu-
patton, used to encourage his only son by
saying that IL anything untoward hap
pened, there was always his uncle. who
must bequeath his wealth to the young
man, since there was no one else who
had any claim on him.
ANDREW Duplane was at the height Of his
SUCCESS at Harvard. His fame rested
bot on scholarship. but automobilism. He
owned seven cars, each the best of its
kind at the time it was bought, for Billy
always purchased the latest edition. He
was rather an expensive young man to
.grubstake at Harvard.
When the telegram reached MIN an
bouncing his fathers sudden death, this
unexpected intelligence naturally shocked
the young man, but 1t would be inaccu-
rate to state that he was overwhelmed
| by grief So far from being his fathers
friend, he was scarcely even acquainted
with him. OF his fathers business affairs
he knew nothing whatever. and cared lii
|tIe about them so long as a quarterly
check came in with regularity and his
extra demands for cash were met
promptly.
It never occurred to him on reading the
Telegram that these exactions OF his had
reached finaIity, and even il the thought
had obtruded itself it would have caused
him no anxiety, for he expected to be left
with a large fortune. Besides, there was
the rich uncle to fall back upon.
The sojourn of Mr.. W. A. Duplane in
the hustIing city Of Chicago opened his
eyes, causing him to think. q mental
operation to which he was quite unaccus-
toned, Not only was nothing left for
the young man, but his father had died
deplorabIy in debt.
In romances we read how young men
left in similar circumstances heroically
put their shoulder to the wheel and, stim-
ulated by emotions o: abstract honesty,
succeed in liquidating all outstanding OBJ |
legations, thus clearing. as it were. the
family name
But no such admirable feelings stirred |
the heart Of William Andrew. In fact. |
his thoughts were fully occupied In de-
Gliding what next he should do. His faith
er's lawyers could offer no suggestion. |
except that he should go to work. which |
of course was quite out Of the question. |
The question that dimly troubled the
young man after>his last interview with |
the lawyers was whether his father
might not have been wrong in his esti-
mate of Andrew Duplane's generosity.
since he had proved himself so mistaken
in the financial vagaFies of wheat.
1t was left for him to discover the ex-
tent of that uncle's amisbility. He was
clever enough to perceive that his return
to Harvard would not be without embar-
rassment True son Of a reckless father,
he was head over heels in debt ample
though his allowance had been, and If
any rumor of what had happened in
Chicago penetrated to Cambridge his re-
turn thither, with an empty purse, would
be fraught with Inconvenience. q thing
that Billy disliked
1t was imperative, therefore, that he
should come to terms with his uncle, and
to this conference he looked forward with
anything but pleasure, for it was sud
denly borne in upon him that II his
acquaintance with his father had been