misfortune. I went on (not very consistently) to beg him to set me up

again, when I would solemnly promise to do a safe business in reliable

railroads. Lastly (becoming somewhat carried away), I assured him I was

totally unfit for business, and implored him to take me away from this

abominable place, and let me go to Paris to study art. He answered

briefly, gently, and sadly, telling me the vacation was near at hand,

when we could talk things over.

When the time came, he met me at the depot, and I was shocked to see

him looking older. He seemed to have no thought but to console me

and restore (what he supposed I had lost) my courage. I must not be

down-hearted; many of the best men had made a failure in the beginning.

I told him I had no head for business, and his kind face darkened. "You

must not say that, Loudon," he replied; "I will never believe my son to

be a coward."

"But I don't like it," I pleaded. "It hasn't got any interest for me,

and art has. I know I could do more in art," and I reminded him that

a successful painter gains large sums; that a picture of Meissonier's

would sell for many thousand dollars.

"And do you think, Loudon," he replied, "that a man who can paint a

thousand dollar picture has not grit enough to keep his end up in

the stock market? No, sir; this Mason (of whom you speak) or our

own American Bierstadt--if you were to put them down in a wheat pit

to-morrow, they would show their mettle. Come, Loudon, my dear; heaven

knows I have no thought but your own good, and I will offer you a

bargain. I start you again next term with ten thousand dollars; show

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