s I had had a run of bad luck. During that time I had failed to
score in at least three affairs of unusual importance, and the result
was a decided loss in repute as well as great financial embarrassment.
As I had a mother and two sisters to support and knew but one way to do
it, I was in a state of profound discouragement. This was before I took
up the morning papers. After I had opened and read them, not a man in
New York could boast of higher hopes or greater confidence in his power
to rise by one bold stroke from threatened bankruptcy to immediate
independence.

The paragraph which had occasioned this amazing change must have passed
under the eyes of many of you. It created a wide-spread excitement at
the time and raised in more than one breast the hope of speedy fortune.
It was attached to, or rather introduced, the most startling feature of
the week, and it ran thus:

A FORTUNE FOR A CHILD.

_By cable from Southampton._

A reward of five thousand dollars is offered, by Philo Ocumpaugh,
to whoever will give such information as will lead to the recovery,
alive or dead, of his six-year-old daughter, Gwendolen, missing
since the afternoon of August the 16th, from her home in -----
on-the-Hudson, New York, U. S. A.

Fifty thousand dollars additional and no questions asked if she is
restored unharmed within the week to her mother at Homewood.

All communications to be addressed to Samuel Atwater, -----
on-the-Hudson.

A minute description of the child followed, but this did not interest
me, and I did not linger over it. The child was no stranger to me. I
knew her well and consequently was quite aware of her personal
characteristics. It was the great amount offered for her discovery and
restoration which moved me so deeply. Fifty thousand dollars! A fortune
for any man. More than a fortune to me, who stood in such need of ready
money. I was determined to win this extraordinary sum. I had my reason
for hope and, in the light of this unexpectedly munificent reward,
decided to waive all the considerations which had hitherto prevented me
from stirring in the matter.

There were other reasons less selfish which gave impetus to my resolve.
I had done business for the Ocumpaughs before and been well treated in
the transaction. I recognized and understood both Mr. Ocumpaugh's
peculiarities and those of his admired and devoted wife. As man and
woman they were kindly