He is now serving a term in State's prison and is, the writer believes,
sincerely repentant and determined to make a man of himself upon his
release. For present purposes let him be called John Smith. He was born
in New York City, in surroundings rather better than the average. His
family were persons of good education and his home was a comfortable and
happy one. From childhood he received thorough religious instruction
and was always a straightforward, honest and obedient boy. His father,
having concluded from observation that the shortest route to success lay
in financial enterprise, secured a place in a broker's office for his
son after the latter's graduation from the high school. John began at
the bottom and gradually worked up to the position of assistant loan
clerk in a big trust company. This took fifteen years of hard work.
From the day that he started in filling inkwells and cleaning out ticker
baskets, he saw fortunes made and lost in a twinkling. He learned that
the chief business of a broker is acting as go-between for persons who
are trying to sell what they do not own to others who have not the money
to pay for what they buy.
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