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they will double themselves in two months.’ And before I could realize to what he was tempting me, he had me down before his desk, showing me letters, documents, etc. , of a certain scheme into which if a man should put a dollar today, it would ‘come out three and no mistake, before the year was out. It is a chance in a thousand,’ said he; ‘if I had half a million I would invest it in this enterprise today. If you will listen to me and put your money in there, you will be a rich man before ten years have passed over your head.’ > > “I was dazzled. I knew enough of such matters to see that it was neither a hoax nor a chimera. He did have a good thing, and if the five thousand dollars had been my own⁠—But I soon came to consider the question without that conditional. He was so specious in his manner of putting the affair before me, so masterful in the way he held on to the money, he gave me no time to think. ‘Say the word,’ cried he, ‘and in two months I bring you back ten thousand for your five. Only two months,’ he repeated, and then slowly, ‘Ona was born for luxury.’ > > “Paula, you cannot realize what that temptation was. To amass wealth had never been my ambition before, but now everything seemed to urge it upon me. Dreams of unimagined luxury came to my mind as these words were uttered. A vision of Ona clad in garments worthy of her beauty floated before my eyes; the humble home I had hitherto pictured for myself, broadened and towered away into a palace; I beheld myself honored and accepted as the nabob of the town. I caught a glimpse of a new paradise, and hesitated to shut