The moneyed man is the sole king; the
herds of the penniless are but as slaves before his footstool. He
breathes with a sense of proprietorship in the whole
globe-enveloping atmosphere; for is it not in his power to inhale it
wheresoever he pleases? He puts his hand in his pocket, and bids
with security for every joy of body and mind; even death he faces
with the comforting consciousness that his defeat will only coincide
with that of human science. He buys culture, he buys peace of mind,
he buys love.--You think not! I don't use the word cynically, but
in very virtuous earnest. Make me a millionaire, and I will purchase
the passionate devotion of any free-hearted woman the world
contains!"
Waymark's pipe had gone out; he re-lit it, with the half-mocking
smile which always followed upon any more vehement utterance.
"That I am poor," he went on presently, "is the result of my own
pigheadedness. My father was a stock-broker, in anything but
flourishing circumstances. He went in for some cursed foreign loan
or other,--I know nothing of such things,--and ruined himself
completely. He had to take a subordinate position, and died in it. I
was about seventeen then, and found myself alone in the world.
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