High School of Commerce - Caravel Yearbook (New York, NY)

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COMMERCE YEAR BOOK, 1912 -1 Yes, replied the clerk. He left here shortly after midnight. Where was he going ? He inquired about trains to New York, saying he was going East. Then I told the clerk about the robbery. Instead of expressing sympathy, he saw fit to laugh heartily. Calling some of the men in the room, he repeated my story, and there arose such a roar of laughter that I strode out of the place, enraged yet sick at heart. Why of all men did he rob me im I asked myself bitterly. Why did he not rob my brother? He is a millionaire. He would not have missed it. But I-I am an outcast. My own brother disowns me. And I am penni1ess! With heavy heart I trudged aimlessly down the street. As I passed a newspaper office, I chanced to look up at the bulletin board. My eyes bulged as I read: ' . HTERRIBLE RAILROAD ACCIDENT NEAR LOS ANGELES+ VINCENT D. CLEMENTS, THE MILLIONAIRE, A ONE OF THE VICTIMS. My brother! I gasped. V A y I stood motionless. My brother-he who had cast me out-he, the millionaire, was dead! And II, who was penniless, who had nothingto live for, was made to live. What tricks Fate plays! When I regained composure, I entered the ollice and awaited my turn at the files of newspapers that ,were kept on a reading table for the convenince of the public. Presently I read: A 'KAmong the victims of the accident was Vincent' D. Clements, the mining millionaire. Mr. Clements left his country home this morning to keep an appointment with his lawyer' in Los Angeles, his intention being to make a 'will leaving his fortune to local charitable institutions. An intimate friend of the late Mr. Clements declares that a few weeks ago a young man, rather the worse for wear, appeared at Mr. Clements' country home, and insisted that he was the million- aire,s brother. The two men were heard to quarrel violently, and that night the visitor departed as mysteriously as he came. He has neither been seen nor heard of since. As Mr. Clements made his fortune in Mexican silver mines, it is surmised that the mysterious visitor may have been an old acquaintance from the mining district. As Mr. Clements never married, this claimant is the sole heir, if he can pro-ve his relationship. The newspaper dropped from my trembling hands. Nly brain was in a whirl. My papers?-my proof! I had them with my wallet, and my wallet- with eager fingers I gripped at my breast pocket. Then I remembered. 87

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CQMMERCE YEAR Book, P1912 The others were either afraid, or didn't want to go, anyhow, Jim and I, being very obliging, were detailed to go and bring the Professor's brother around. W'e went to the address and found it to be right. We must have scared the brother by the way we put it, I guess, but everything was explained to him as we hurried back. He said that he didn't know what to do, but as his brother was concerned in it, he would of course do anything he could. VVhen he entered the room he was greeted by the same silence that seemed to be a part of the house. He soon put the baby and his brother through all their paces and finally decided to put the subjects under hypnotic influence again, if he could. I ' The baby was easy, but the Professor took a long time and when he finally closed' his eyes, everybody breathed easier. we felt that things were more natural now. The Professor's brother then said that he would leave the two like that for a while, and so we had a half hour's discussion of the phenomenon that had taken place. l ' When the time came to awake the two again, there was a hushed ex- pectancy in the air. VVe' all hoped that all would turnout right, and it did. In a couple of minutes the Professor and the baby were brought around to the tune of the mother's weeping and the silent relief of the other spectators. Neither the Professor nor the baby suffered any evil effects from the experience. That night while walking back to the armory, Jim admitted that he must have been mistaken about -hypnotism. But, he said, this was the first, the last, and the only exhibition of hynotism he ever intended to witness. VVQRTI-I A MILLION JACK LUDWIG, 1 9 1 4 AILY I went the rounds of factory and ofiice in futile attempts to secure a position. San Francisco employers demand experience. I lacked experience. While thus engaged, I met a man who seemed be in the same straits as I. Sam Trenck was his name. Drawn together by hard luck, we at once became friends. . Together We hired a room in a cheap lodging house. We could make our money last longer that way. Still, there was an air of evil mystery about the man that I disliked. This mystery was soon explained, for I awoke one morning to find Sam Trenck missing. So was all I possessed in this world except my clothes. He had been generous enough to leave them. Dressing hurriedly, I rushed down stairs and asked the clerk if he had seen Trenck. 86

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coMMERcE YEAR BooK,1912 VVhy, you fool! I cried to myself. Don't you know that Trenck has stolen them. Yes! Sam Trenck has stolen the papers that could now make you a millionaireln I And the rooming house clerk had said that Trenck was going to New York. Clear across the continent. And here I stood-penniless! With clenched fists and a desperate face, I started for the railroad yards. Cautiously scaling the fence, I stole across the maze of tracks toward the train shed where the eastbound Chicago Limited was waiting for the last sacks of mail. Hovering in the shadow of the baggage car, I watched the mail clerks gather at the door to take in the registered mail packets. The moment their backs were toward me, I swung up and hid behind a heap of second- class mail sacks. The next instant the train glided out of the station, and my mad pursuit of papers worth a million had begun. .D No one noticed me. The clerks were busy sorting letters and filling the way-station bags. Presently we were in the open country, which shot past, hour after hour, like a Hood of unending darknessx And then I must have fallen asleep. ' ' When I opened my eyes again, there were but two clerks in the car, and these were seated nearthe safe, evidently as guards. Une of them yawned and stretched. Keep your hands up! From the pile of bags in front of mea man had risen, a revolver in his hand. The clerk's yawn was frozen on hislips. With upstretched arms and cheeks gone a sickly white, he stared into the revolver. g V Hands up, youll' I Up went the second clerk's arms. , i The man with the revolver took a step nearer them. As he did so, I leaped upon him. The shock knocked the revolver out of his hand and threw him off his balance. He clutched at me and we went down together. V He was a powerful brute, and lithe as a panther. A twist of his body, a sudden turn of his arm, and he had me by the throat. In another minute I should have been choked to death, had not one of the mail clerks recovered from his fright and thrust a revolver into the robber's face. 'fLeggol said the clerk. D'you want to swing for murder beside doing time for this job ? The fingers at my throat relaxed and I wrenched myself free. Keep 'im covered, Jim, said the second clerk, While I tie him up. . VVhile I was gettingmy breath, one clerk held the revolver to the robber's head, while the second clerk tied his wrists together. Now take off his mask, said the clerk with the revolver. Let's see who he is. . The others pulled off the piece of cambric. I came forward, looked- and gasped. 88 1