e was
continually, and in the quietest way, having the most astonishing and
cataclysmic adventures; he would be blown up, as it were, by a dynamite
explosion, and presently would return from the sky undisturbed, with
only a slight additional sparkle in his soft eyes, and with the lock of
hair that fell gracefully over his forehead only a trifle disordered.
The most courteous and affectionate of men, with the most yielding and
self-effacing manners, he had the spirit of a paladin, and was afraid of
nothing. He would empty his pockets--or if, as too often happened, they
were already empty, he would pledge his credit to help a friend out of
a hole; and, on the other hand, he was always hot upon the trail of
a dazzling fortune, which, like Emerson's Forerunners, never was
overtaken. It would not long have availed him, had it been otherwise,
for never was there a Monte Cristo who lavished wealth as O'Sullivan
habitually did in anticipation, and would undoubtedly have done in
fact had the opportunity been afforded him. He was gifted with a low,
melodious, exquisitely modulated voice, and a most engaging and winning
manner, and when he set out to picture the simple and easy methods
whereby he proposed to make millions, it was next to impossible to
resist him. He was like a beautiful, innocent, brilliant child, grown
up, endowed with an enchanter's wand, which was forever promising all
the kingdoms of the earth to him, but never (as our modern phrase is)
delivered the goods. He regarded my father as a king of men, and he had,
times without number, been on the very edge of making him, as well as
himself, a multifold millionaire. However, President Pierce did what he
could for him by giving him the Portuguese mission (after first offering
it to my father), and O'Sullivan did excellent work there. But he became
interested--abstractly--in some copper-mines in Spain, which, as he
clearly demonstrated, could be bought for a song, and would pay a
thousand per cent, from the start. Partly to gratify him, and partly
with the hope of at least getting his money back, my father finally, in
1858 or 1859, advanced him ten thousand dollars to finance the scheme. I
saw the dear old gentleman, a generation later, in New York; he had the
same clear, untroubled, tranquil face as of old; his hair, though
gray, was as thick and graceful as ever; his manner was as sweet and
attractive; but though, in addition to his other accomplishments, he had
beco