Such was Samuel’s life until he was seventeen,
and then a sad experience came to the family.
It was because of the city people. They brought
prosperity to the country, everyone said, but old
Ephraim regretted their coming, none the less.
They broke down the old standards, and put an end to
the old ways of life. What was the use of grubbing
up stumps in a pasture lot, when one could sell minnows
for a penny apiece? So all the men became “guides”
and camp servants, and the girls became waitresses.
They wore more stylish clothes and were livelier of
speech; but they were also more greedy and less independent.
They had learned to take tips, for instance; and more
than one of the girls went away to the city to nameless
and terrible destinies.
These summer boarders all had money. Young and
old, it flowed from them in a continuous stream.
They did not have to plow and reap—they
bought what they wanted; and they spent their time
at play—with sailboats and fishing tackle,
bicycles and automobiles, and what not. How all
this money came to be was a thing difficult to imagine;
but it came from the city—from the great
Metropolis, to which one’s thoughts turned with
ever livelier interest.
Then, one August, came a man who opened the gates
of knowledge a little. Manning was his name—Percival
Manning, junior partner in the firm of Manning & Isaacson,
Bankers and Brokers—with an address which
had caused the Prescott family to start and stare with
awe. It was Wall Street!
Mr. Percival Manning was round and stout, and wore
striped shirts, and trousers which were like a knife
blade in front; also, he fairly radiated prosperity.
His talk was all of financial wizardry by which fortunes
were made overnight. The firm of Manning & Isaacson
was one of the oldest and most prosperous in the street,
so he said; and its junior partner was in the confidence
of some of the greatest powers in the financial affairs
of the country. And, alas! for the Prescott family,
which did not read the magazines and had never even
heard of a “bucket-shop”!
Adam, the oldest brother, took Mr. Manning back to
Indian Pond on a fishing trip; and Samuel went along
to help with the carries. And all the way the
talk was of the wonders of city life. Samuel learned
that his home was a God-forsaken place in winter—something
which had never been hinted at in any theological
book which he had read. Manning wondered that
Adam didn’t get out to some place where a man
had a chance. Then he threw away a half-smoked
cigar and talked about the theaters and the music
halls; and after that he came back to the inexhaustible
topic of Wall Street.
