 CHAPTER I. A BIRTHDAY DINNER The little sons of the rich were gathered about the long table in Pentagill's studio. There were nine of them present, besides Brewster. They were all young, more or less enterprising, hopeful and reasonably sure of better things to come. Most of them bore names that meant something in the story of New York. Indeed, one of them had remarked, a man is known by the street that's named after him. And as he was a new member they called him Subway. The most popular man in the company was young Monty Brewster. He was tall and straight and smooth shaven. People called him clean looking. Old women were interested in him because his father and mother had made a romantic runaway match. Which was the talk of the town in the seventies, and had never been forgiven. Worldly women were interested in him because he was the only grandson of Edwin Peter Brewster, who was many times a millionaire. And Monty was fairly certain to be his heir, barring an absent-minded gift to charity. Younger women were interested for a much more obvious and simple reason. They liked him. Men also took to Monty because he was a good sportsman. A man among men, because he had a decent respect for himself, and no great aversion to work. His father and mother had both died while he was still a child. And as if to make up for his long relentlessness, the grandfather had taken the boy to his own house, and had cared for him with what he called affection. After college and some months on the continent, however, Monty had preferred to be independent. Old Mr Brewster had found him a place in the bank. But beyond this, and occasional dinners, Monty asked for and received no favours. It was a question of work and hard work and small pay. He lived on his salary because he had to, but he did not resent his grandfather's attitude. He was better satisfied to spend his weekly salary, as he called it, in his own way than to earn more by dining seven nights a week with an old man who had forgotten he was ever young. It was less wearing, he said. Among the little sons of the rich, birthdays were always occasions for feasting. The table was covered with dishes sent up from the French restaurant in the basement. The chairs were pushed back. Cigarettes were lighted. Men had their knees crossed. Then Pentagill got up. Gentlemen, he began. We are here to celebrate the 25th birthday of Mr Montgomery Brewster. I ask you all to join me in drinking to his long life and happiness. No heel taps, someone shouted. Brewster, Brewster, all shouted at once. That he's a jolly good fellow, that he's a jolly good fellow. The sudden ringing of an electric bell cut off this flow of sentiment. And so unusual was the interruption that the ten members straightened up as if jerked into position by a string. The police, someone suggested. All faces were turned toward the door. A waiter stood there, uncertain whether to turn the knob or push the bolt. Dan Neusance said Richard Van Winkle, I want to hear Brewster's speech. Speech, speech echoed everywhere. Men settled into their places. Mr Montgomery Brewster, Pentagill, introduced. Again the bell rang, long and loud. Reinforcements, I'll bet there's a patrol in the street, remarked Oliver Harrison. If it's only the police, let them in, said Pentagill. I thought it was a creditor. The waiter opened the door. Someone to see Mr Brewster, sir, he announced. Is she pretty, waiter? Called MacLeod. He says he is Alice from your grandfather's, sir. My compliments to Alice and ask him to inform my grandfather that it's after banking hours. I'll see him in the morning, said Mr Brewster, who had reddened under the jests of his companions. Grandpa doesn't want his Monty to stay out after dark, chuckled Subway Smith. It was most thoughtful of the old gentleman to have the man called for you with the perambulator, shouted Pentagill, above the laughter. Telling you've already had your bottle, added MacLeod. Waiter, tell Alice I'm too busy to be seen, commanded Brewster. And as Alice went down in the elevator, a roar followed him. Now for Brewster's speech, Brewster. Monty Rose. Gentlemen, you seem to have forgotten for the moment that I am 25 years old this day and that your remarks have been childish and wholly unbecoming the dignity of my age. That I have arrived at a period of discretion is evident from my choice of friends, that I am entitled to your respect is evident from my grandfather's notorious wealth. You have done me the honour to drink my health and to reassure me as to the inoffensiveness of approaching senility. Now I ask you all to rise and drink to the little sons of the rich. May the Lord love us. An hour later, Rip Van Winkle and Subway Smith were singing, Tell me, pretty maiden, to the uncertain accompaniment of Pentagill's violin, when the electric bell again disturbed the company. The heaven's sake shouted Harrison, who had been singing, with all life faults I loved thee still, to Pentagill's lay figure. Come home with me, grandson, come home with me now, suggested Subway Smith. Tell Alice to go to Halifax, commanded Montgomery, and again Alice took the elevator downward. He's usually in passive face, now wore a look of anxiety, and twice he started to return to the top floor, shaking his head dubiously. At last he climbed into a handsome and reluctantly lit the revelers behind. He knew it was a birthday celebration, and it was only half past twelve in the morning. At three o'clock the elevator made another trip to the top floor, and Alice rushed over to the unfriendly doorbell. This time there was stubborn determination in his face. The singing ceased, and a roar of laughter followed the hush of a moment or two. Come in, called a hearty voice, and Alice strode firmly into the studio. You are just in time for a nightcap, Alice, cried Harrison, rushing to the footman's side. Alice stolidly, facing the young man, lifted his hand. No, thank you, sir, he said respectfully. Mr Montgomery, if you'll excuse me for breaking in. I'd like to give you three messages I brought here tonight. You're a faithful old chap, said Subway Smith, thickly. Hang if I do, ADT, work till 3am for anybody. I came at ten, Mr Montgomery, with a message from Mr Brewster, wishing you many happy returns of the day, and with a check from him for $1,000. Here's the check, sir. I'll give my messages in the order I receive them, sir, if you please. At 12.30 o'clock, I came with a message from Dr Gower, sir, who had been called in. Called in, gasped Montgomery, turning white. Yes, sir, Mr Brewster had a sudden heart attack at half past 11, sir. The doctor sent word by me, sir, that he was, at the point of death, my last message. Good Lord! This time I bring a message from Rawls, the butler, asking you to come to Mr Brewster's house at once, if you can. Sir, I mean, if you will, sir, Alice interjected apologetically. Then, with these gays directed steadily over the heads of the subdued sons, he added impressively, Mr Brewster is dead, sir. End of Chapter 1. Chapter 2 of Brewster's Millions. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. This reading by Lucy Burgoyne. Brewster's Millions by George Barr McCutcheon. Chapter 2. Shades of Aladdin. Montgomery Brewster no longer had prospects. People could not now point him out with the remark that someday he would come into a million or two. He had realised, as Oliver Harrison would have put it, two days after his grandfather's funeral, a final will and testament was read. And, as was expected, the old banker atoned for the hardships Robert Brewster and his wife had endured by bequeating one million dollars to their son Montgomery. It was his without a restriction, without an admonition, without an encumbrance. There was not a suggestion as to how it should be handled by the air. The business training the old man had given him was synonymous with conditions not expressed in the will. The dead man believed that he had drilled into the youth an unmistakable conception of what was expected of him in life. If he failed in these expectations, the misfortune would be his alone to bear. A road had been carved out for him and behind him stretched a long line of guideposts whose laconic instructions might be ignored but never forgotten. Edwin Peter Brewster evidently made his will with the sensible conviction that it was necessary for him to die before anybody else could possess his money and that, once dead, it would be fully for him to worry over the way in which beneficiaries might choose to manage their own affairs. The house in Fifth Avenue went to a sister, together with a million or two and the residue at the estate found kindly disposed relatives who were willing to keep it from going to the home for friendless fortunes. Old Mr Brewster left his affairs in order. The will nominated Jeremy Buskirk as executor and he was instructed in conclusion to turn over to Montgomery Brewster the day after the will was probated. Securities to the amount of one million dollars provided for in clause four of the instrument and so it was that on the 26th of September young Mr Brewster had an unconditional fortune thrust upon him, waited only with the suggestion of crepe that clung to it. Since his grandfather's death he had been staying at the gloomy Old Brewster house in Fifth Avenue paying for two or three hurried visits to the rooms at Mrs Gray's where he had made his home. The gloom of death still darkened the Fifth Avenue place and there was a stillness, a gentle stealthiness about the house that made him long for more cheerful companionship. He wondered dimly if a fortune always carried the suggestion of tube roses. The richness and strangeness of it all hung about him unpleasantly. He had had no extravagant affection for the grim old dictator who was dead yet his grandfather was a man and had commanded his respect. It seemed brutal to leave him out of the reckoning to dance on the grave of the mentor who had treated him well. The attitude of the friends who clapped him on the back of the newspapers which congratulated him of the crowd that expected him to rejoice, repelled him. It seemed a tragic comedy haunted by a severe dead face. He was haunted too by memories and by a sharp regret for his own foolish thoughtlessness. Even the fortune itself weighed upon him at moments with a half-denied melancholy. Yet the situation was not without its compensations. For several days when Alice called him at seven, he would answer him and thank fortune that he was not required at the bank that morning. The luxury of another hour of sleep seemed the greatest percocyte of wealth. His morning mail amused him at first. For since the newspapers had published his prosperity to the world, he was deluged with letters, requests that public or private charity were abundant, that most of his correspondence were generous and thought only of his own good. For three days he was in a hopeless state of bewilderment. He was visited by reporters, photographers and ingenious strangers who benevolently offered to invest his money in enterprises with certified futures. When he was not engaged in declining a gold mine in Colorado with five million dollars marked down to four hundred and fifty, he was avoiding a gill-less inventor who offered to sacrifice the secrets of a marvellous device for three hundred dollars or denying the report that he had been tended the presidency of the First National Bank. All of the Harrison stirred him out early one morning and, while the sleepy millionaire was rubbing his eyes and still dodging the bombshell that a dream anarchist had hurled from the pinnacle of a bed post, urged him in excited, confidential tones to take time by the forelock and prepared for possible breach of promised suits. Brewster sat on the edge of the bed and listened to diabolical stories of how consciousness females had fleeced innocent and even godly men of wealth. From the bathroom between splashes he retained Harrison by the year, month, day and hour to stand between him and Blackmail. The directors of the bank met and adopted resolutions lamenting the death of their late president passed the leadership onto the first vice president and speedily adjourned. The question of admitting Monty to the directory was brought up and discussed but it was left for time to settle. One of the directors was Colonel Prentice Drew, the railroad magnet of the newspapers. He had shown a fondness for young Mr Brewster and Monty had been a frequent visitor at his house. Colonel Drew called him my dear boy and Monty called him a bully old chap, though not in his presence, but the existence of Miss Barbara Drew may have had something to do with the feeling between the two men. As he left the director's room on the afternoon of the meeting Colonel Drew came up to Monty who had notified the officers of the bank that he was leaving. Ah, my dear boy, said the Colonel, shaking the young man's hand warmly. Now you have a chance to show what you can do. You have a fortune and, with judgement, you ought to be able to triple it. If I can help you in any way, come and see me. Monty thanked him, you'll be bored to death by the rafter people who have ways to spend your money, continued the Colonel. Don't listen to any of them. Take your time. You'll have a chance to make money every day of your life, so go slowly. I'd have been rich years and years ago if I'd had sense enough to run away from promoters. They'll all try to get a whack at your money. Keep your eye open, Monty. The rich young man is always attempting morsel. After a moment's reflection, he added, won't you come out and dine with us tomorrow night? End of chapter two. Chapter three of Brewster's Millions. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. This reading by Lucy Bergoine. Brewster's Millions by George Barr McCutcheon. Chapter three, Mrs. and Mrs. Gray. Mrs. Gray lived in 40th Street. For years, Montgomery Brewster had regarded her quiet, old-fashioned home as his own. The house had once been her grandfather's, and it was one of the pioneers in that part of the town. It was there she was born, in its quaint old parlor she was married, and all her girlhood, her brief-witted life, and her widowhood were connected with it. Mrs. Gray and Montgomery's mother had been skillmates and playmates, and their friendship endured. When old Edward Peter Brewster looked about for a place to house his orphan grandson, Mrs. Gray begged him to let her care for the little fellow. He was three years older than her Margaret, and the children grew up as brother and sister. Mr. Brewster was generous in providing for the boy while he was away at college, spending money in a manner that caused the old gentleman to marvel at his own liberality. Mrs. Gray was well-paid for the unused but well-kept apartments, and there never was a murmur of complaint from Edward Peter Brewster. He was hard, but he was not niggardly. It had been something of a struggle for Mrs. Gray to make both ends meet. The property in 40th Street was her only possession, but little money had come to her at her husband's death, and an unfortunate speculation of his had swept away, all that had fallen to her from her father, the late Judge Meriwether. The years she kept the old home unencumbered, teaching French and English until Margaret was well in her teens. The girl was sent to one of the good old boarding schools on the Hudson and came out well-prepared to help her mother in the battle to keep the wolf down and appearances up. Margaret was rich in friendships, and pride alone stood between her and the advantages they offered. Good-looking, bright and cheerful, she knew no natural privations with a heart as light and joyous as a main morning. She faced adversity, as though it was a pleasure, and no one would have suspected that even for a moment her courage wavered. Now that Brewster had come into his splendid fortune, he could concede no greater delight than to share it with them. To walk into the little drawing room and serenely lay large sums before them as their own seemed such a natural proceeding that he refused to see an obstacle. But he knew it was there the proper of such a gift for Mrs Gray would mean a wound to the pride inherited from haughty generations of men sufficient unto themselves. There was a small but troublesome mortgage on the house, a matter of two or three thousand dollars, and Brewster tried to evolve a plan by which he could assume the burden without giving deep and lasting events. A hundred wild designs had come to him, but they were quickly relegated to the growing heap of such effuges and pretexts condemned by his tenderness for the pride of these two women who meant so much to him. Leading the bank he hastened by electric car to 40th Street and Broadway and then walked eagerly off into the street of the numeral. He had not yet come to the point where he felt like scouting the cars even though a roll of banknotes was tucked snugly away in a pocket that seemed to swell with sudden affluence. Old Henrik, faithful servitor through two generations was sweeping the autumn leaves from the sidewalk when Montgomery came up to the house. Hello, Henrik, was the young man's cheery greeting. Nice lot of leaves you have there. So, Ed from Henrik, who did not even so much as look up from his work, Henrik was a human claim. Mrs Gray in a grunt that signified jazz. You're as loquacious as ever, Henrik. A mere nod. Brewster let himself in with his own latchkey through his hat on a chair and unceremoniously bolted into the library. Margaret was seated near a window, a book in her lap. The first evidence of unbiased friendship he had seen in days shone in her smile. She took his hand and said simply we are glad to welcome the prodigal to his home again. I remind myself more of the fatted calf. His first self-consciousness had gone. I thought of that, but I didn't dare say it. She laughed. One must be respectful to rich relatives. Hang your rich relatives, Peggy. If I thought that this money would make any difference, I would give it up this minute. Nonsense, Monty, she said. How could it make a difference? But you must admit it is rather startling. The friend of our youth leaves his humble dwelling Saturday night with his celery drawn for two weeks ahead. He returns the following Thursday a dazzling millionaire. I'm glad I've begun to dazzle. Anyway, I thought it might be hard to look the part. Well, I can't see that you are much changed. There was a suggestion of a quaver in her voice, and the shadows did not prevent him from seeing the quick mist that flitted across her deep eyes. After all, it's easy work being a millionaire, he explained, when you always had a million dollar inclinations and fifty cent possibilities, she added. Really though, I'll never get as much joy out of my abundant riches as I did out of financial embarrassments. But think how fine it is, Monty, not ever to wonder where your winter's overcoat is to come from and how long the coal will last and all that. Oh, I never wondered about my overcoats. The tailor did the wandering, but I wish I could go on living here just as before. I'd a heap rather live here than at that gloomy place on the avenue. That sounded like the things you used to say when we played in the garret. You'd a heap sooner do this than that. Don't you remember? That's just why I'd rather live here, Peggy. Last night I fell to thinking of that old garret and hanged if something didn't come up and stick in my throat so tight that I wanted to cry. How long has it been since we played up there? Yes, and how long has it been since I read Oliver Optic to you, lying there in the garret window while you sat with your back against the wall? Your blue eyes as big as dollars. Oh, dear me, Monty, it was ages ago. Twelve or thirteen years at least, she cried, a soft light in her eyes. I'm going up there this afternoon to see what the place is like, he said eagerly, and Peggy, you must come too. Maybe I can find one of those Optic books and we'll be young again. Just for old times sake, she said impulsively, you'll stay for lunch and two. I'll have to be at the, no, I won't, either. Do you know I was thinking I had to be at the bank at twelve thirty to let Mr Perkins go out for something to eat? The millionaire habit isn't so firmly fixed as I supposed. After a moment's pause, in which his growing seriousness changed the atmosphere, he went on, holding the uncertain of his position. The nicest thing about having all this money is that we won't have to deny ourselves anything after this. It did not sound very tactful now that it was out, and he was compelled to scrutinise rather intently a familiar portrait in order to maintain an air of careless assurance. She did not respond to this venture that he felt that she was looking directly into his sorely tried brain. We'll do any amount of decorating about the house, and you know that Furness has been giving us a lot of trouble for two or three years. He was pouring out ruthlessly when her hand fell gently on his own and she stood straight and tall before him, and I'd look in her eyes. Don't, please don't go on, Monty. She said very gently that without wavering, I know what you mean. You are good and very thoughtful, Monty, but you really must not. Why? What's mine is yours. He begun. I know you are generous, Monty, and I know you have a heart. You want us to take some of your money. It was not easy to say it, and as for Monty, he could only look at the floor. We cannot, Monty, dear. You must never speak a bit again. Mama and I had a feeling that you would do it. But don't you see, even from you, it is an offer of help, and it hurts. Don't talk like that, P. He implored. It would break her heart if you offered to give her money in that way. She'd hate it, Monty. It is foolish, perhaps, but you know we can't take your money. I thought you, that you, oh, this knocks all the joy out of it. He burst out desperately. Dear Monty, let's talk it over, P. You don't understand, he began. Dashing at what he thought would be a break in her resolve. Don't, she commanded, and in her blue eyes was the hot flash. He had felt once or twice before. He rose and walked across the floor, back and forth again, and then stood before her, a smile on his lips, a rather pitiful smile, but still a smile. There were tears in her eyes as she looked at him. It's a confounded, puritanical, prejudice, Peggy. He said in futile protest, and you know it. You have not seen the letters that came for you this morning. They're on the table over there, she replied, ignoring him. He found the letters and resumed his seat in the window, glancing hard-partedly over the contents of the envelopes. The last was from Grant and Ripley attorneys, and even from his abstraction it brought a surprise by Joan. He read it aloud to Margaret. September 30, Montgomery, Brewster, Esquire, New York. Dear sir, we are in receipt of a communication from Mr. Swerigan-Jones of Montana, conveying the sad intelligence that your uncle, James T. Sedgwick, died on the 24th inst at M Hospital in Portland, after a brief illness. Mr. Jones by this time has qualified in Montana as the executor of your uncle's will and has retained us as his eastern representatives. He encloses a copy of the will in which you are named as Soul Air with conditions attending. We call at our office this afternoon. If it is convenient, that you know the contents of the instrument at once. Respectfully yours, Grant and Ripley. For a moment there was only amazement in the air. Then a faint bewildered smile appeared in Monty's face and reflected itself in the girls. Who is your uncle, James? She asked. I've never heard of him. You must go to Grant and Ripley's at once, of course. Finally he replied with a hint of vexation in his voice that we are to read Oliver Optick this afternoon. End of Chapter 3 Chapter 4 of Brewster's Millions This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Lucy Burgon Brewster's Millions by George Barmer Cuchin Chapter 4 A second. You are both fortunate and unfortunate, Mr Brewster, said Mr Grant, after the young man had dropped into a chair in the office of Grant and Ripley the next day. Montgomery wore a slightly broad expression and it was evident that he took little interest in the will of James T. from far back in the recesses of memory he now recalled this long-lost brother of his mother. As a small child he had seen his Uncle James upon the few occasions which brought him to the home of Mr and Mrs Robert Brewster. But the young man had dined at the Druze the night before and Barbara had had more charm for him than usual. It was of her that he was sinking and walked into the office of Swarajan Jones lawyers. The truth is, Mr Grant, I had completely forgotten the existence of an Uncle. He responded. It is not surprising, said Mr Grant, juniorly. Everyone who knew him in New York 19 or 20 years ago believed him to be dead. He left the city when you were a very small lad going to Australia, I think. He was very fortunate and he needed it pretty badly when he started out. This letter from Mr Jones comes like a message from the dead. Were it not that we have known Mr Jones for a long time handling affairs of considerable importance for him I should feel inclined to doubt the whole story. It seems that your Uncle turned up in Montana about 15 years ago and there formed a staunch friendship with Old Swarajan Jones, one of the richest men in the Far West. Sedgwick's will was signed on the day of his death, September 24th and it was quite natural that Mr Jones should be named as his executor. That is how we became interested in the matter, Mr Brewster. I see, said Montgomery, somewhat puzzled, but why do you say you seemed unfortunate? The situation is so remarkable that you'll consider that a mild way of putting it when you've heard everything. I think you were told, in our note of yesterday, that you are the sole heir. Well, it may surprise you to learn that James Sedgwick died possessed of an estate valued at almost $7 million. Montgomery Brewster sat like one petrified, at the old lawyer, who could say startling things in a level voice. He owned gold mines and ranches in the Northwest and there is no question as to their value. Mr Jones, in his letter to us, briefly outlines the history of James Sedgwick from the time he landed in Montana. He reached there in 1885 from Australia and he was worth $1,000 at the time. Within five years, he was the owner of a huge ranch and scarcely had another five years pass before he was part owner of three rich gold mines. Possessions accumulated rapidly. Everything he touched turned to gold. He was shrewd, careful and thrifty and his money was handled with all the skill of a Wall Street financier. In his death in Portland, he did not owe a dollar in the will. His property is absolutely unencumbered, safe and sound as a government bond. It's rather overwhelming, isn't it? The lawyer concluded taking note of Brewster's expression. And he left everything to me with that proviso. I have a copy of the will. You and I are the only persons in New York who at present know its context. You, I am sure, after hearing it will not divulge them without the most careful deliberation. Mr Grant drew the document from a pigeon hole in his desk, adjusted his glasses and prepared to read. Then, as though struck by a sudden thought, he laid the paper down and turned once more to Brewster. It seems that Sedgwick never married. Your mother was his sister and his only known relative of close connection. He was a man of most peculiar temperament, but in full possession of all mental faculties. You may find this will to be a strange document, but I think, Mr Jones, the executor explains any mystery that may be suggested by its terms. Your mother and your mother about were unknown to his old friends in New York. It seems that he was fully posted on all that was going on here. He knew that you were the only child of your mother and therefore his only nephew. He said forth the dates of your mother's marriage, of your birth, of the death of Robert Brewster and of Mrs Brewster. He also was aware of the fact that Brewster intended to bequeath a large fortune to you and thereby hangs a tail. Sedgwick was proud. When he lived in New York he was regarded as the kind of man who never forgave the person who touched roughly upon his pride. You know, of course, that your father married Miss Sedgwick in the face of the most bitter opposition on the part of Edwin Brewster. He refused to recognize her as his daughter, practically disowned his son and heaped the harshest kind of calamity upon the Sedgwick's. It was commonly believed about town that Jim Sedgwick left the country three or four years after this marriage for the sole reason that he and Edwin Brewster could not live in the same place. So deep was his hatred of the old man to escape killing him. It was known that upon one occasion he visited the office of his sister's enemy for the purpose of slaying him but something prevented. He carried that hatred to the grave as you will see. Montgomery Brewster was trying to gather himself together from within the fog which made himself and the world unreal. I believe I'd like to have you read the text for all. The will, Mr. Grant. He said with an effort to hold his nerves in leash. Mr. Grant cleared his throat and began in his still voice. Once he looked up to find his listener eager and again to find him grown indifferent. He wondered dimly if this were a pose. In brief the last will of James T Sedgwick bequeathed everything real and personal of which he died possessed to his only nephew Montgomery Brewster of New York, son of Robert and Louise Sedgwick Brewster. Supplementing this all important clause there was a set of conditions governing the final disposition of the estate. The most extraordinary of these conditions was the one which required the air to be absolutely penniless upon the 26th anniversary of his birth, September 23rd. The instrument went into detail in respect to this supreme condition. It's set forth that Montgomery Brewster was to have no other worldly possession than the clothes which covered him on the September Day named. He was to begin that day without a penny to his name without a single article of furniture or finance that he could call his own or could thereafter reclaim. At nine o'clock New York time on the morning of September 23rd the executor under the provisions of the will was to make over and transfer to Montgomery Brewster all of the monies, lands, bonds and interests mentioned in the inventory which accompanied the will. The event that Montgomery Brewster had not in every particular complied with the requirements of the will to the full satisfaction of the said executor Swaraj and Jones the estate was to be distributed among certain institutions of charity designated in the instrument. Underlying this imperative injunction of James Sedgwick was plainly discernible the motive that he requested it. In almost so many words he declared that his heir should not receive the fortune if he possessed a single penny that had come to him in any shape or form from the man he hated Edwin Peter Brewster while Sedgwick could not have known at the time of his death that the banker had bequeathed one million dollars to his grandson. It was more than apparent that the young man to be enriched liberally by his enemy it was to preclude any possible chance of the mingling of his fortune with the smallest portion of Edward P Brewster's that James Sedgwick on his deathbed put his hand to this astonishing instrument. There was also a clause in which he undertook to dictate the conduct of Montgomery Brewster during the year leading up to his 26th anniversary. He required that the young man should give satisfactory evidence to the executor that he was capable of managing his affairs shrewdly and wisely that he possessed the ability to add to the fortune through his own enterprise that he should come to his 26th anniversary with a fair name and a record free from anything worse the mild of dissipation that his habits be temperate that he possess nothing at the end of the year which might be regarded as a visible or invisible asset that he make no endowments that he gives sparingly to charity that he neither loan nor give away money for fear that it might be restored to him later that he live on the principle which inspires a man to get his money's worth through the expenditure great or small as these conditions were proscribed for but a single year in the life of the heir it was evident that Mr Sedwick did not intend to impose any restrictions after the property had gone into his hands how do you like it asked Mr Grant as he passed the will to Brewster the latter took the paper and glanced over it with the air who had heard but had not fully grasped its meaning it must be a joke Mr Grant he said still groping with difficulty through the fog no Mr Brewster it is absolutely genuine here is a telegram from the probate court in Sedwick's home county received in response to a query from us it says that the will is to be filed for probate that Mr Sedwick was many times a millionaire this statement which he calls an inventory enumerates his holdings and their value and the footing shows $6,345,000 in round numbers the investments you see are guilt edged there is not a bad penny in all those millions well it is rather staggering isn't it said Montgomery passing his hand over his forehead he was beginning to comprehend in more ways than one what are you going to do about it do about it in surprise why it's mine isn't it it is not yours until next September the lawyer quietly said well I fancy I can wait said Brewster with a smile that cleared the air but my dear fellow you are already the possessor of a million do you forget that you are expected to be penniless a year from now wouldn't you exchange a million for seven millions Mr Grant but let me inquire how you purpose doing it ask Mr Grant mouldly why by the simple process of destruction don't you suppose I can get rid of a million in a year who wouldn't do it all I have to do is to cut a few purse strings and there is but one natural conclusion I don't mind being a pauper for a few hours on the 23rd of next September that is your plan then of course first I shall substantiate all that this will set forth when I am assured that there can be no possibility of mistake in the extent of this fortune and my undisputed claim I will take steps to get rid of my grandfather's million in short order Brewster's voice rang true now the zest of life was coming back Mr Grant leaned forward slowly and his intent penetrating gaze served as a check to the young fellow's enthusiasm I admire and approve the sagacity which urges to exchange a paltry million for a fortune but it seems to me that you are forgetting the conditions he said slowly has it occurred to you that it will be no easy task to spend a million dollars without in some way violating the restrictions in your uncle's will thereby losing both fortunes end of chapter 4 chapter 5 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org this reading by Lucy Burgoyne Brewster's millions by George Barr McCutcheon chapter 5 the message from Jones a new point of view gradually came to Brewster all his life had been spent in wondering how to get enough money to pay his bills and it had not occurred to him that it might be as difficult to spend as to acquire wealth the thought staggered him for a moment then he cried triumphantly I can decline to accept grandfather's million you cannot decline to accept what is already yours I understand that the money has been paid to you by Mr. Buskirk you have a million dollars Mr. Brewster and it cannot be denied you are right agreed Montgomery dejectedly really Mr. Grant this proposition is too much for me if you aren't required to give an immediate answer I want to think it over it sounds like a dream it is no dream Mr. Brewster smile the lawyer face with an amazing reality come in tomorrow morning and see me again think it over study it out remember the conditions of the wheel and the conditions that confront you in the meantime I shall write to Mr. Jones the executor and learn from him just what he expects you to do in order to carry out his own conception of the terms of your uncle's will don't write Mr. Green telegraph and ask him to wire his reply a year is not very long in an affair of this kind a moment later he added damn these family feuds why couldn't Uncle James have relented a bit he brings endless trouble on my innocent head just because of a rail before I was born he was a strange man as a real one does not carry grudges quite so far but that is neither here nor there his will is law in this case suppose I succeed in spending all but a thousand dollars before the 23rd of next September I'd lose the seven millions and be the next thing to a pauper that wouldn't be quite like getting my money's worth it is a problem my boy think it over very seriously before you come to a decision one way or the other in the meantime we can establish beyond a doubt the accuracy of this inventory by all means go ahead and please urge Mr. Jones not to be too hard on me I believe I'll risk it if the restrictions are not too severe but if Jones has puritanical instincts I might as well give up hope and be satisfied with what I have Mr. Jones is very far from what you'd call puritanical that he is intensely practical and clear headed he will undoubtedly require you to keep an expense account and to show some sort of receipt for every dollar you disperse good lord itemize in a general way I presume I'll have to employ an army of spin thriffs to devise ways and means for profligacy you forget the item which restrains you from taking anybody into your confidence concerning this matter think it over it may not be so difficult after a night's sleep if it isn't too difficult to get the night's sleep all the rest of the day Brewster wandered about as one in a dream he was preoccupied and puzzled and more than one of his old associates receiving a distant nod had been passing resentfully concluded that his wealth was beginning to change him his brain was so full of statistics, figures and computations that it will disly and once he narrowly escaped being run down by a cable car he dined alone at a small French restaurant in one of the side streets the waiter marbled at the amount of black coffee the young man consumed and looked hurt when he did not touch the quail and lettuce that night the little table in his room at Mrs Graves was littered with scraps of pad paper each covered with an incomprehensible maze of figures after dinner he had gone to his own rooms forgetting that he lived on Fifth Avenue until long after midnight he smoked and calculated and dreamed for the first time the intensity of that million thrust itself upon him if on that very day October the first he were to begin the task of spending it he would have but 357 days in which to accomplish the end taking the round sum of one million dollars as a basis it was an easy matter to calculate his average daily disbursement the situation did not look so utterly impossible until he held up the little sheet of paper and roofily contemplated the result of that simple problem in mathematics it meant an average daily expenditure of 2,801 dollars and 12 cents for nearly a year and even then there would be 16 cents left over for improving the result of his rough sum in division he could account for but 999,999 dollars and 84 cents then it occurred to him that his money would be drawing interest at the bank but for each days 2,801 dollars and 12 cents I am getting 7 times as much he solo-quizzed as he finally got him to bed that means 1,607 dollars 84 cents a day a clear profit of 16,806 dollars and 72 cents that's pretty good yes, too good I wonder if the bank couldn't oblige me by not charging interest the figures kept adding and subtracting themselves as he dozed off and once during the night he dreamed that Swarajan Jones had sent him to eat a million dollars worth of game and salad at the French restaurant he awoke with the consciousness that he had cried aloud I can do it but a year is not very long in an affair of this kind it was 9 o'clock when Brewster finally rose and after his tug he felt ready to cope with any problem even a substantial breakfast a message had come to him that he was ready to go to the restaurant of Grant and Ripley announcing the receipt of important dispatchers from Montana and asking him to luncheon at one he had time to spare and as Margaret and Mrs Gray had gone out he telephoned Alice to take his horse to the entrance to the park at once the crisp autumn air of the park his horse was keen for a canter and he had reached the obelisk before he drew rain as he was about to cross the carriage road he was nearly run down by Miss Drew in her French automobile I beg your pardon she cried you're the third person I've run into so you see I'm not discriminating against you I should be slated even to be run down by you very well then look out and she started the machine as if to charge him she stopped in time and said with a laugh your gallantry deserves a reward wouldn't you rather send your horse home and come for a ride with me my man is waiting at 59th Street if you'll come that far I'll go with pleasure Monty had merely a society acquaintance with Miss Drew and her daughters and dancers as he had a host of other girls but she had impressed him more than the others something indescribable took place every time their eyes met Monty had often wondered just what that something meant but he had always realised that it had in it nothing of platonic affection if I didn't have to meet her eyes he had said to himself I could go on discussing even politics with her but the moment she looks at me I know she can see what I'm thinking about from the first they considered themselves very good friends and after their third meeting it seemed perfectly natural that they should call one another by their first names Monty knew he was treading on dangerous ground it never occurred to him to wonder what Barbara might think of him he took it as a matter of course that she must feel more than friendly toward him as they rode through the maze of carriages they bound frequently to friends as they passed they were conscious that some of the women noticeably old Miss Dexter actually turned around and gazed at them aren't you afraid people will talk about us ask Monty with a laugh talk about our riding together in the park it's just as safe here as it would be in Fifth Avenue besides who cares I fancy we can stand it you're a thoroughbred Barbara I simply didn't want you talked about when I go too far say the word and drop me I have a luncheon at two but until then we have our ride Monty gasped and looked at his watch five minutes to one the matter of his engagement with the attorney had quite escaped him in the exhilaration of Miss Drew's companionship he had forgotten even Uncle James's millions I've got a date at one that means life and death to me would you mind taking me down to the nearest elevator or here let me run it almost before Barbara was aware of what was happening they had changed places under Monty's guidance was tearing over the ground of all the casual people said the girl by no means unequal to the excitement I believe you're kidnapping me but when she saw the grim look on Monty's face and one policeman after another warned him she became seriously alarmed Monty Brewster this pace is positively dangerous perhaps it is he responded if they haven't sensed enough to keep out of the way they shouldn't kick if they get run over I don't mean the people or the automobiles or traps or trees or monuments Monty I mean you and me I know we'll either be killed or arrested this isn't anything to the gate I'll be going if everything turns out as I expect don't be worried Babs it's one now Lord I didn't dream it was so late is your appointment so important? she asked hanging on well I should say it is and look out you blooming idiot do you want to get killed the last remark was hurled back at an indignant pedestrian who had escaped destruction by the mirror's chance here we are he said as they drew up beside the entrance to the elevator thanks awfully you're a corker sorry to leave you this way I'll tell you all about it later you're a deer to help me keep my appointment seems to me you helped yourself she cried after him as he darted up the steps come up for tea someday and tell me who the lady is after he had gone Miss Drew turned to her shopper who was in the tornado then she laughed unrestrainedly and the faintest shadow of a grin stole over the man's face big pardon miss he said but I'd back Mr Brewster against Fornia any day only half an hour late Brewster entered the office of Mrs Grant and Ripley flushed, eager and unconscious of the big splotch of mud that decorated his cheek awfully sorry to have kept you waiting he apologised Sherlock Holmes would say that you had been driving Mr Brewster said Mr Ripley shaking the young man's hand he would miss it Mr Ripley I've been flying what have you heard from Montana he could no longer check the impatient question which came out so suddenly that the attorneys laughed irresistibly Brewster joining them an instant later they laid before him a half a dozen telegrams responses from bankers lawyers and mine operators in Montana these messages established beyond doubt the extent of James T. Sedgewick's wealth it was reported to be even greater than shown by the actual figures and what does Mr Jones say demanded Montgomery his reply resembles a pressed dispatch he has tried to make himself thoroughly clear and if there is anything left unsaid it has passed our comprehension I am sorry to inform you though that he has paid the telegraph charges said Mr Grant smiling broadly is he rational about it asked Montgomery nervously Mr Grant gave his partner a quick significant glance and then drew from his desk the voluminous telegram from Swarajan Jones it was as follows October 2 Grant and Ripley Yuckerton building New York I am to be sole referee in this matter you are retained as my agents heir to report to me through you weekly one desire of uncle was to force to all grandfathers bequest I shall respect that desire enforce terms rigidly he was my best friend and trusted me with disposition of all this money shall attend to it sacredly he must get rid of money left to him in given time out of respect to memory of uncle he must take no one into his confidence don't want Will to think S was damn fool he wasn't here are rules I want him to work under one no reckless gambling two no idiotic board of trade speculation three no endowments to institutions of any character because their memory would be an invisible asset four no indiscriminate giving away of funds by that I don't mean him to be stingy I hate a stingy man and so did JTS five no more than ordinary dissipation I hate a saint so did JTS and both of us sewed and ate all two six no excessive donations to charity if he gives as other millionaires do I'll let it go with that don't believe charity should be spoiled by indulgence it is not easy to spend a million and I won't be unreasonable with him let him spend it freely but not foolishly and get his money's worth out of it if he does that I'll consider him a good businessman I regard it foolish to tip waiter more than a dollar and a car porter does not deserve over five he does not earn more than one if air wants to try for the big state he'd better begin quick because he might slip up if he waits until day of judgment it's less than year off luck to him will write you more fully S. Jones write more fully Echo Montgomery what can there be left to write about he is explicit said the attorney but it is best to know all the conditions before you decide have you made up your mind bruised a sack for a long time staring hard at the floor a great struggle was going on in his mind it's a gamble and a big one he said at last squaring his shoulders but I'll take it I don't want to appear disloyal to my grandfather but I think that even he would advise me to accept yes you may write Mr. Jones that I accept the chance the attorneys complimented him on his nerve and wished him success bruised a turned with a smile I'll begin by asking what you think a reasonable fee for an attorney in a case of this kind I hope you will act for me you don't want to spend it all in a lump do you ask Mr. Grant smiling we can hardly act as counsel for both you and Mr. Jones that I must have a lawyer and the will limits the number of my confidence what am I to do we will consult Mr. Jones in regard to the question it is not regular you see but I apprehend no legal difficulties we cannot accept fees from both sides however said Mr. Grant but I want attorneys who are willing to help me it won't be a help if you decline to accept my money we'll resort to arbitration laugh triply before night Montgomery Brewster began a career that would have startled the world had the facts been known with true loyalty to the little sons of the rich he asked his friends to dinner and open their eyes champagne cried Harrison as they were seated at table I can't remember the last time I had champagne naturally life subways met you couldn't remember anything after that as the dinner progressed Brewster explained that he intended to double his fortune within a year I'm going to have some fun too he said a new boys are to help me Nopper Harrison was employed as superintendent of affairs Alan Gardner as financial secretary Joe Bragdon as private secretary Subway Smith as council and there were places in view for the other members I want the smartest apartment you can find Nopper he commanded don't stop at expense have pentagill redecorated from top to bottom get the best servants you can find I'm going to live Nopper and hang the consequences End of Chapter 5 Chapter 6 of Brewster's Millions This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org This reading by Lucy Burgoyne Brewster's Millions by George Barr McCutcheon Chapter 6 A fortnight later Montgomery Brewster had a new home Instrict obedience to his chief's command Nopper Harrison had leased until the September following one of the most expensive apartments to be found in New York City The rental was $23,000 and shrewd financial representative had saved $1,000 for his employer in advance But when he reported this bit of economy to Mr Brewster he was surprised that it brought forth a frown I never saw a man who had less sense about money muttered Nopper to himself Why, he spends it like a Chicago millionaire trying to get him to New York society if it were not for the rest of us he'd be a pauper in six months Paul Pentagill to his own intense surprise and, it must be said consternation was engaged to redecorate certain rooms according to a plan suggested by the tenant The rising young artist in great flurry of excitement agreed to do the work for $500 and then blushed like a schoolgirl when he was informed by the practical Brewster that the paints and material for one room alone would cost twice as much Petty, you have no more idea a business than a goat criticized Montgomery and Paul lowered his head in humble confession that man who calcium ironed your studio could figure on a piece of work with more intelligence than you reveal I'll pay $2,500 it's only a fair price and I can't afford anything cheap in this place great, you won't be able to afford anything said Pentagill to himself and so it was that Pentagill and a corpse of decorators soon turned the rooms into a confusion of scapholgings and paint buckets out of which in the end emerged something very distinguished no one had ever thought Pentagill deficient in ideas and this was his opportunity the only drawback was the time limit which Brewster so remorselessly fixed without that he felt that he could have done something splendid in the way of decorative panels something that would make even the glory of Purvey's dish or barns turnpallant with it he was obliged to curb his turbulent ideas and he decided that a rich simplicity was the proper note the result was gorgeous but not too gorgeous it had depth and distinction elated and eager he assisted Brewster in selecting furniture and hangings for each room but he did not know that his employer was making conditional purchases of everything Mr Brewster had agreements with all the dealers to the effect that they were to buy everything back at a fair price if he desired to give up his establishment within a year he adhered to this rule in all cases that call for the purchase outright of substantial necessities the bump of calculativeness in Monty Brewster's head was growing to abnormal proportions in retaining his rooms at Mrs Gray's he gave the flimsy but pathetic excuse that he wanted a place in which he might find occasional seasons of peace and quiet when Mrs Gray protested against this useless bit of extravagance his grief was so obviously genuine that her heart was touched and there was a deep fervent joy in her soul she loved this fair-faced boy and tears of happiness came to her eyes when she was given this new proof of his loyalty and devotion his rooms were kept for him just as if he had expected to occupy them every day and every night notwithstanding the luxurious apartments he was to maintain elsewhere the other optic books still lay in the attic all tattered and torn but to Margaret the embodiment of prospective riches promises of sweet hours to come she knew Monty well enough to feel that he would not forget the dark little attic of old for all the splendours of the new dispensation there was no little surprise when he sent out invitations for a large dinner his grandfather had been dead less than a month and society was somewhat scandalised by the plain symptoms of disrespect he was showing no one had expected him to observe a prolonged season of mourning but that he should disregard the formalities completely some of the older people who had not longed to live and who had his apparent openly denounced his heartlessness it was not very gratifying to think of what might be in store for them if all memories were as short as Brewster's old Mrs Ketchall changed her will and two nephews were cut off entirely a very modest and impeccable grandson of Joseph Garrity also was to sustain a severe change of fortune in the near future if the card spoke correctly Judge Van Ward who was not expected to live through the night got better immediately after hearing someone in the sick room whisper that Montgomery Brewster was to give a big dinner naturally he is to be condemned young Brewster in no uncertain terms nevertheless the dinner to be given by the grandson of old Edward Peter Brewster was the talk of the town and not one of the 16 invited guests could have been persuaded to miss it reports to its magnificence were abroad long before the night set for the dinner one of them had it that it was to cost 3,000 a plate from that figure the legendary price receded to a mark as low as $500 Montgomery would have been only too glad to pay $3,000 or more but some mysterious force conveyed to his mind a perfect portrait of Swarajan Jones in the act of putting down a large black mark against him and he thought bore I wish I knew whether I had to abide by the New York or the Montana standard of extravagance Brewster said to himself I wonder if he ever sees the New York papers late each night the last of the grand old Brewster family went to his bedroom where after dismissing his man he settled down at his desk with a pencil and a pad of paper lighting the candles which were more easily managed he found than lamps costly he thoughtfully and religiously calculated the expenses of the day Nopper, Harrison and Alan Gardner had the receipts for all money spent and Joe Ragdon was keeping an official report but the chief as they called him could not go to sleep until he was satisfied in his own mind that he was keeping up the average for the first two weeks in fact he seemed to have quite a comfortable lead in the race he had spent almost a hundred thousand dollars in the fortnight that he realized that the greater part of it had gone into the yearly and not the daily expense account he kept a profit and loss entry in his little private ledger but it was not like any other account of the kind in the world what the ordinary merchant had charged to loss he jotted down on the profit side and he was continually looking for opportunities to swell the total rules who had been his grandfather's butler since the day after he landed in New York came over to the grandson's establishment greatly to the wrath and confusion of the letters on Emmeline the chef came from Paris and his name was Alice the footman also found a much better birth with Monty than he had in the house on the avenue Aunt Emmeline never forgave her nephew for these base and disturbing acts of treachery as she called them one of Monty's most extraordinary financial feats grew out of the purchase of a $14,000 automobile he blamely admitted to Noppa Harrison and the two secretaries that he intended to use it to practice with only and that as soon as he learned how to run an auto as it should be run he expected to buy a good sensible durable machine for $7,000 his staff officers frequently put their heads together to devise ways and means of curbing Monty's reckless extravagance he's like a sailor in port protested Harrison money is no object if he wants a thing and damn it he seems to want everything he sees it won't last long Gardner said reassuringly like his namesake Monty Crystal the world is his just now and he wants to enjoy it he wants to get rid of it it seems to me he's like a brooster about the matter he disarm them by saying now that I've got money I mean to give my friends a good time just what you do if you were in my place what's money for anyway but this $3,000 a plate dinner I'm going to give a dozen of them and even then I can't pay my just debts for years I've been entertained at people's houses and been taken cruising on their yachts they have always been bullied to me and what have I ever done for them nothing now that I can afford it I'm going to return some of those favors and square myself doesn't it sound reasonable and so preparations for Monty's dinner went on in addition to what he called his efficient corpse of gentlemanly aides who secured the services of Mrs Dan Demille as social mentor and utility chaperone Mrs Demille was known in the papers as the leader of the fast younger married set she was one of the cleverest and best looking young women in town and her husband was one of those who did not have to be invited to Mr Demille lived at the club and visited his home and said that he was so slow and his wife so fast that when she invited him to dinner he usually was two or three days late all together Mrs Demille was a decided acquisition to Brewster's campaign committee it required just her touch to make his parties fun instead of funny it was on October the 18th that the dinner was given with a skill of a general Mrs Dan had seated the guests in such a way that from the beginning things went off with zest Colonel Drew took in Mrs Valentine and his content was assured Mr Van Winkle and the beautiful Miss Valentine were side by side and no one could say he looked unhappy Mr Cromwell went in with Mrs Savage and the same delicate tact in some cases that was almost indelicate was displayed in the disposition of other guests somehow they had come with the expectation of being bored curiosity prompted them to accept but it did not prevent the subsequent inevitable lassitude socially Monty Brewster had yet to make himself felt he and his dinners were something to talk about but they were hesitantly, haltingly people wondered how he had secured the cooperation of Mrs Dan but then Mrs Dan always did go in for a new toy to her was inevitably attributed whatever success the dinner achieved and it was no small measure yet there was nothing startling about the affair Monty had decided to begin conservatively he did the conventional thing but he did it well he added a touch or two of luxury the faintest aroma of splendour Pentingill had designed the curiously wayward table with its comfortable atmosphere of companionship and arranged its decoration of great lavender orchids and lacy butterfly festoons of white ones touch with yellow he had wanted to use dahlias in their many rich shades from pale yellow to orange and deep red but Monty held out for orchids it was the artist too who had found in a rare and happy moment the massive gold candelabra ancient things of a more luxurious age and their opalescent shades against his advice the service too was of gold and rank vulgarity he called it with its rich meaningless ornamentation but here Monty was of durant he insisted that he liked the colour and that porcelain had no character Mrs Dan only prevented a quarrel by suggesting that several courses should be served upon service Pentingill's scheme for lighting the room for the benefit of his walls and the four lovely manettes which Monty had purchased at his instigation he had designed a ceiling screen of heavy rich glass in tones of white that grew into yellow and dull green it served to conceal the lights in the daytime and at night the glare of electricity was immensely softened and made harmonious by passing through it a note of quiet to the picture which caused even these men and women who had been here and there and seen many things to draw in their breath sharply all together the effect manifestly made an impression such an environment had its influence upon the company it went far toward making the dinner a success from far in the distance of the grains of Hungarian music and never had the little band played the Wolf's Amarus and the Wolf's Blue with the spirit it put into them that night yet the soft climber in the dining room insistently ignored the emotion of the music Monty, bored as he was between the two most important dowagers at the feast wondered dimly what invisible part it played in making things go he had a vagrant fancy that without it there would have been no zest for talk no noisy competition to overcome no hurdles to leap as it was the talk certainly went well and Mrs Dan expected the result of her work from time to time with smiling satisfaction from across the table Brewster evidently objects to a long siege he is planning to carry us by a sulk Mrs Dan turned to Subway Smith who was, at her right the latest addition to her menagerie what is this friend of yours she asked I have never seen such complex simplicity this new play thing has no real charm for him he is breaking it to find out what he is made of and something will happen when he discovers the sawdust oh don't worry about him said Subway easily, Monty is at least a good sportsman he won't complain whatever happens he'll accept the reckoning and pave the pipe up it was only toward the end of the evening that Monty found his reward in a moment with Barbara Drew he stood before her who was billi durantly to keep away intruders and she smiled up at him in that bewildering fashion of hers that it was only for an instant and then came a terrifying din from the dining room followed by the clamour of crashing glass the guests tried for a moment to be courteously oblivious but the noise was so startling that such politeness became farcical the host, with a little laugh went down the hall it was the beautiful screen near the ceiling that had fallen a thousand pieces of shattered glass covered the place the table was the sickening heat of crushed orchards and sputtering candles frightened servants rushed into the room from one side just as Brewster entered from the other stupid faction halted them after the first pulseless moment of horror exclamations of dismay went up on all sides for Monty Brewster the first sensation of regret was followed by a diabolical sense of joy thank the lord, he said softly in the hush the look of surprise he encountered in the faces of his guests brought him up with a jerk that it didn't happen he added with serene thankfulness and his nonchalance scored for him in the idle game he was playing end of chapter 6 chapter 7 of Brewster's Millions this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information all to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org this reading by Lucy Burgawain Brewster's Millions by George Barr McCutcheon chapter 7 a lesson intact Mr Brewster's Butler was surprised and annoyed for the first time in his official career he had unbent so far as to manifest a personal interest in the welfare of his master he was on the verge of assuming a responsibility which makes any servant intolerable but after his interview he resolved that he would never again overstep his position he made sure that it should be the last defence the day following the dinner Rawls appeared before young Mr Brewster and indicated by his manner that the call was an important one Brewster was seated at his writing table deep in thought the exclamation that followed Rawls cough of announcement was so sharp and so unmistakably fierce that all other evidence paled into insignificance the Butler's interruption came at a moment when Monti's mental arithmetic was pulling itself out of a very bad rut and the cough drove it back into chaos what is it he demanded irritably Rawls had upset his calculations to the extent of seven or eight hundred dollars I came to report an unfortunate condition among the servant sir said Rawls stiffening his responsibility became more and more weighty he had relaxed temporarily upon entering the room what's the trouble the troubles hindered sir then why bother me about it I thought it would be well for you to know sir the servants was going to ask that I awaited today sir you say they were going to ask aren't they and Monti's eyes lighted up at the thought of new possibilities I convinced them sir as how they were getting good pay as it is sir they thought to be satisfied they'd be a long time finding a better place and as good wedges they haven't been with you all week and here they are striking for more pay really sir these American servants Rawls that'll do exploded Monti the butler's chin went up and his cheeks grew redder than ever I beg pardon sir injured air Rawls you will kindly not interfere in such matters again it is not only the privilege but the duty of every American to strike the higher pay when every feels like it and I want it distinctly understood that I am heartily in favor of their attitude you will kindly go back and tell them that after a reasonable length of service their wedges I mean wages shall be increased and don't meddle again Rawls later that afternoon Brewster dropped in at Mrs De Mills to talk over plans for the next dinner he realized that in no other way could he squander his money with a better chance of getting it's worth than by throwing himself bodily into society it went easily and there could be only one asset arising from it in the end his own sense of disgust so glad to see you Monty greeted Mrs Dan glowingly coming in with a rush come upstairs and I'll give you some tea and a cigarette I'm not at home to anybody that's very good of you Mrs Dan said he as they mounted the stairs I don't know what I'd do without your help he was thinking how pretty she was you'd be richer at any rate turning to smile upon him from the upper landing I was in tears half the night Monty over that glass screen she said after finding a comfortable place among the cushions of a deban Brewster dropped into a roomy lazy chair in front of her and handed her a cigarette as he responded carelessly it amounted to nothing of course it was very annoying that it should happen while the guests were still there then he added gravely in strict confidence I had planned to have it fall just as we were pushing back our chairs but the confounded thing disappointed me that's the trouble with these automatic climaxes they usually hang fire it was to have been a sort of fall a Babylon effect you know landed but like Babylon it fell at the wrong time for a lively quarter of an hour they discussed people about town liberally approving the slander and denouncing the slanderers a still busier quarter of an hour ensued when together they made up the list of dinner guests he moved a little writing table up to the deban and she looked on eagerly for the names she suggested after many puck rings of her fair aristocratic brow and then drew lines through them when she changed her mind Mrs. DeMille handled her people without gloves in making up Monty's lists the dinners were not hers and she could afford to do as she pleased with his he was broad and tall and she was not slow to see that he was indifferent he did not care who the guests were or how they came he merely wished to make sure of their presence his only blunder was the rather diffident recommendation that Barbara drew be asked again if he observed that Mrs. Dan had sunk a little closer to the paper he attached no importance to the movement he could not see that her eyes grew narrow and he paid no attention to the little brush in her breath wouldn't that be a little just a little pronounced she asked lightly enough you mean that people might talk she might feel conspicuously present do you think so we are such good friends you know of course if you'd like to have her slowly and doubtfully why put her name down but you evidently haven't seen that Mrs. Dan pointed to a copy of the trumpet which lay on the table when he had handed her the paper she said the sensor is growing facetious at your expense I am getting on in society with vengeance if that ass starts in to write about me listen to this she had pointed out to him the obnoxious paragraph if Brewster drew a diamond flush do you suppose he'd catch the queen and if he caught her how long do you think she'd remain drew or if she drew Brewster would she be willing to learn such a game as Monty the next morning a writer who signed himself the sensor got a thrashing and one Montgomery Brewster had his name in the papers surrounded by false and words of praise chapter seven chapter eight of Brewster's Millions this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information all to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org this reading by Lucy Burgoyne Brewster's Millions by George Barr McCutcheon chapter eight the four lock of time one morning not long after the incidents just related Brewster lay in bed staring at the ceiling deep in thought there was a worried pucker on his forehead half hidden by the rumbled hair and his eyes were wide and sleepless he had dined at the droos the evening before and had had an awakening as he thought of the matter of no special occurrence that he could really use as evidence Colonel and Mrs. Drew had been as kind as ever and Barbara could not have been more charming but something had gone wrong and he had endured a wretched evening that little English Johnny was to blame he argued of course Barbara had a right to put anyone she liked next to her but why she should have chosen that silly ass is more than I know by Joe if I had been on the other side I warrant his grace would have been lost in the dust his brain was whirling and for the first time he was beginning to feel the unpleasant pains of jealousy the Duke of Beauchamp he especially disliked although the poor man had hardly spoken during the dinner but Monty could not be reconciled he knew of course that Barbara had suitors by the dozen but it had never occurred to him that they were even seriously considered notwithstanding the fact that his encounter with the censor had brought her into undesirable notice she forgave him everything after a moment's consideration the first few wrenches of resentment were over balanced by her American appreciation of chivalry however inspired the censor had gone for years unpunished his course with being aimed at everyone who had come into social prominence so pugnant and vindictive was his pen that other men feared him and there were many who lived in glass houses in terror of a fuselage prompt and sufficient action had checked the pernicious attacks and he became a hero among men and women after that night there was no point to the censor's pen Monty's first crimes of apprehension were swept away when Colonel Drew himself hailed him that morning after the encounter and in no unmeasured terms congratulated him for his achievement assuring him that Barbara and Mrs Drew approved although they might lecture him as a matter of form but on this morning as he lay in his bed Monty was thinking deeply and painfully he was confronted by a most embarrassing condition and he was discussing it soberly with himself I've never told her he said to himself she is not as clever as I think besides I haven't time to make love to her now if it were any other girl I suppose I'd have to but that's why she must understand and yet, damn that Duke in order to woo her properly he would be compelled to neglect financial duties that needed every particle of brain energy at his command he found himself opposed at the outset by a startling embarrassment made absolutely clear by the computations of the night before the last four days of indifference to finance on one side and pampering the heart on the other had proved very costly to use his own expression he had been set back almost $8,000 an average like that would be realness why, think of it, he continued that each day sacrificed to Barbara I must deduct something like $2,500 a long campaign would put me irretrievably in the hole I'd get so far behind that a holocaust couldn't put me even she can't expect that of me yet girls are such idiots and of course she doesn't know what a heavy task I'm facing and there are the others what will they do while I am out at the running I cannot go to her and say please may I have a years vacation I'll come back next September on the other hand I shall surely neglect my business if she expects me to compete what pleasure shall I get out of the $7,000,000 if I lose her I can't afford to take chances that Duke won't have $7,000,000 next September it's true but he'll have a prodigious argument against me about the 21st or 2nd then a brilliant thought occurred to him which caused him to ring for a messenger boy with such a show of impatience that rules stood aghast the telegram which Monty wrote was as follows Swerrigan Jones Butte Montana may I marry and turn all property over to wife providing she will have me Montgomery Brewster why isn't that reasonable he asked himself after the boy had gone making a property over to one's wife is neither alone nor is a charity old Jones might call it needless extravagance since he is a bachelor but it's generally done because it's good business Monty was hopeful following his habit in trouble he sought Margaret Gray to whom he could always appeal for advice and consolation she was to come to his next dinner party and it was easy to lead the subject in hand by mentioning the other guests and Barbara drew he concluded after naming all the others they were alone in the library and she was drinking in the details of the dinner as he related them wasn't she at your first dinner she asked quickly he successfully affected my old embarrassment yes very attractive there was no venom in Peggy's heart she is attractive in fact she's one of the best Peggy he said paving the way it's too bad she seems to care for that little Duke he's a bounder he argued well don't take it to heart you don't have to marry him and Peggy laughed but I do take it to heart Peggy said Monty seriously I'm pretty hard hit and I want your help a sister's advice is always the best in a matter of this sort she looked into his eyes duly for an instant not realising the full importance of his confession you Monty she said I've got a bad Peggy he replied staring hard at the floor she could not understand the cold grey tone that suddenly enveloped the room the strange sense of loneliness that came over her was inexplicable the little something that rose in her throat would not be dislodged nor could she throw off the weight that seemed pressing down upon her he saw the odd look in her eyes and the drawn uncertain smile on her lips that he attributed them to wonder and incredulity somehow after all these years he was transformed before her very eyes she was looking upon a new personality he was no longer Montgomery the brother but she could not explain how and when the change crept over her what did it all mean I am very glad if it will make you happy Monty she said slowly the grey in her lips giving way to read once more does she know I haven't told her in so many words Peggy but but I'm going to this evening he announced lonely this evening I can't wait Monty said as he rose to go I'm glad you're pleased Peggy I need your good wishes and Peggy he continued with a touch of boyish wistfulness do you think there's a chance for a fellow I've had the very juice of a time over that Englishman it was not quite easy for her to say Monty you are the best in the world go in and win from the window she watched him swing off down the street wondering if he would turn away his hand to her he's custom for years but the broad back was straight and uncompromising his long strides carried him swiftly out of sight but it was many minutes before she turned her eyes which were smarting a little from the point where he was lost in the crowd the room looked ashen to her as she brought her mind back to it and somehow things had grown difficult when Montgomery reached home he found this telegram from Mr Jones Montgomery Brewster New York City stick to your knitting you damn fool S Jones end of chapter 8 chapter 9 of Brewster's Millions this is a LibraVox recording all LibraVox recordings are in the public domain for more information all to volunteer please visit LibraVox.org this reading by Lucy Burgoyne Brewster's Millions by George Barr McCutcheon chapter 9 Love and a Prize Fight it is best not to repeat the expressions Brewster used regarding one S Jones after reading his telegram but he felt considerably relieved after he had uttered them he felt to reading accounts of the big prize fight which was to take place in San Francisco that evening he reveled in the descriptions of upper cuts and left hooks and learned incidentally that the affair was to be quite one-sided a local amateur was to box a champion quick to see an opportunity and conjoaling himself into the belief that Swaraj and Jones could not object to such a display of sportsmanship Brewster made Harrison book several good wages on the result he intimated that he had reason to believe that the favourite would lose Harrison soon placed $3,000 on his man the young financier felt so sure of the result that he entered the bets on the profit side of his ledger the moment he received Harrison's report this done he telephone miss Drew she was not insensible to the significance of his inquiry if she would be in that afternoon she had observed in him a blade a condition of uneasiness supplemented by moroseness and occasional periods of irresistibility every girl whose occupation in life is to study of men recognises these symptoms and knows how to treat them Barbara had dealt with many men afflicted in this manner and the flutter of anticipation that came with his urgent plea to see her was tempered by experience it had something of joy in it for she cared enough for Montgomery Brewster to have made her anxiously uncertain of his state of mind she cared indeed much more than she intended to confess at the outset it was nearly half past five when he came and for once the philosophical miss Drew felt a little irritation so certain was she of his object incoming was a trifle ruffling he apologised for being late and succeeded in banishing the pic that possessed her it was naturally impossible for him to share all these secrets with her that is why he did not tell her that Grant and Ripley had called him up to report the receipt of telegram from Swaraj and Jones in which the gentleman he could feed the whole state of Montana for less than six thousand dollars beyond that there was no comment Brewster in dire trepidation hastened to the office of the attorneys they smiled when he burst in upon them good heavens he exclaimed does the miserly old hasty expect me to spend a million for newspapers cigarettes and Boston terriers I thought he would be reasonable he evidently has seen the newspaper accounts of your dinner and this is merely his comment said Mr Ripley it's either a warning or else he's ambiguous in his compliments Groud Brewster I don't believe he disapproved Mr Brewster in the West the old gentleman is widely known a wit I then he'll appreciate an answer from me have you a telegraph blank Mr Grant two minutes later the following telegram to Swaraj and Jones was waiting the arrival of a messenger boy and Brewster was blindly assuring messes Grant and Ripley that he did not care a rep for the consequences October 23rd Swaraj and Jones Butte Montana no doubt you could do it for less than 6000 Montana is regarded as the best grazing country in the world but we don't eat that sort of stuff in New York that's why it costs more to live here Montgomery Brewster just before leaving his apartments for Mr Rue's home butte this response from far away Montana Butte Montana October 23rd Montgomery Brewster New York we are 8000 feet above the level of the sea I suppose that's why it costs us less to live high Yes Jones I was beginning to despair Monty said Mr Rue reproachfully from the height of his exasperation and remembered that there were things of more importance the light in his eyes brought the faintest tinge of red to her cheeks and where a moment before there had been annoyance there was now a feeling of serenity for a moment the silence was fraught with purpose Monty glanced around the room uncertain how to begin it was not so easy as he had imagined you are very good to see me he said at last it was absolutely necessary for me to talk to you this evening I could not have endured this suspense any longer Barbara I've spent three or four sleepless nights on your account will it spoil your evening if I tell you in plain words what you already know it won't bother you will it he flailed it what do you mean Monty she begged purposely dense and with wonderful control of her eyes I love you babes he cried I thought you knew about it all along or I should have told you before that's why I haven't slept the fear that you may not care for me has driven me a distraction it couldn't go on any longer I must know today there was a gleam in his eyes that made her pose of indifference difficult the fervour of his half whispered words took possession of her she had expected sentiment of such a different character that his frank confession disarmed her completely beneath his ardent abrupt plea there was assurance the confidence of one who is not to be denied it was not what he said but the way he said it a wave of exaltation swept over her tingling through every nerve under the spell her resolution to deli lightly with his emotion suffered a check that almost brought ignominious surrender both of their hands were clasped in his when he exaltingly resumed the charge against her heart but she was rapidly regaining control of her emotions and he did not know that he was losing ground with each step he took forward Barbara drew love Brewster but she was going to make him pay dearly for the brief lapse her composure had experienced when next she spoke it was true who had been trained in the ways of the world and not the young girl in love I care for you a great deal Monty she said but I'm wondering whether I care enough to marry you we haven't known each other very long babs he said tenderly but I think we know each other well enough to be beyond wondering it is like you to manage the whole thing she said cheatingly can't you give me time to convince myself that I love you as you would like and as I must love if I expect to be happy with the man I marry I forgot myself he said humbly you forgot me she protested gently touched by this sign of contrition I do care for you Monty but don't you see there's no little thing you asked me I must be sure very sure don't be so distressed he pleaded you will love me I know because you love me now this means much to me but it means more to you you are the woman and you are the one whose happiness should be considered I can live only in the hope that we are going with the same story and the same question you will not be afraid to trust yourself to me you deserve to be happy for that Monty she said earnestly and it was with difficulty that she kept her eyes from wagering as they looked into his you will let me try to make you love me he asked eagerly I may not be worth the struggle I'll take that chance he replied she was conscious of disappointment after he was gone he had not pleaded as ardently as she had expected and desired and trying as she would she could not vanish the touch of irritation that had come to haunt her for the night bruised a walk to the club elated that he had at least made a beginning the competition was now clear besides losing a fortune he must win Barbara in open competition at the theatre that evening he met Harrison who was in a state of jubilation where did you get that tip asked him tip what tip from bruised her on the prize fight bruised his face fell and something cold crept over him tip what was the result he asked sure of the answer haven't you heard your man knocked him out in the fifth round surprised everybody end of chapter 9