dignified, although alone; otherwise I dare say I should have danced
the pas seul. Whatever my uncle's bequest might be, I believed that it
would make me independently rich. I am ashamed to admit that I did not
feel sorry at the news of his sudden departure from this life. It is
better to be rich than to be ambitious. It is better to have at hand
what you want than to work for it, and then not get it. Phyllis was
scarcely an arm's length away now. I whistled as I locked up my desk,
and proceeded down stairs and sang a siren song into the waxen ears of
the cashier.

"You have only twenty coming this week, Mr. Winthrop," said he.

"Never mind," I replied; "I'll manage to get along next week." It was
only on very rare occasions that I drew my full pay at the end of the
week.

I dined at a fashionable restaurant. As I sipped my wine I built one
of my castles, and Phyllis reigned therein. There would be a trip to
Europe every summer, and I should devote my time to writing novels. My
picture would be the frontispiece in the book reviews, and wayside
paragraphs would tell of the enormous royalties my publishers were
paying me. I took some old envelopes from my pocket and began figuring
on the backs of them as to what purposes the money should be put. It
could not be less than $50,000, perhaps more. Of course my uncle had
given a harbor to a grudge against me and mine, but such things are
always forgotten on the death bed. It occurred to me that I never had
known before what a fine world it was, and I regretted having spoken
ill of it. I glanced across the way. The sky had cleared, and the
last beams of the sun flamed in the windows of the tall buildings.
Fortune, having buffeted me, was now going to make me one of her