In the evenings we had frequent callers, and while I was always the gracious host to my friends, I was selfish enough to wish, at times, that we could live on an island by ourselves, where we could remain undisturbed. It is said "there is nothing half so sweet in life, as love's young dream." I have found something far sweeter, as this narrative in its natural progression will develop; but those were my days of "love's young dream." I was proud of my wife, proud of the admiration she commanded from our friends, but I wanted her all to myself. Our Sundays were looked forward to with eagerness. We attended church service in the morning, and the afternoons were passed in our apartment in delightful intercourse. There was never a dull moment. Sunday evening supper, which to me has always been a most attractive meal, was usually taken either with my family or at Mr. Sherman's. Occasionally we would attend an evening service, but as a rule we would get home early and have a few hours to ourselves. Our year of separation while engaged had to be atoned for. We were lovers the first year of our wedded life, and after all these years we are, no less ardently, lovers still. CHAPTER VI THE FIRST REVERSE OF FORTUNE. The Christmas holidays of 1872 were at hand and I was in full spirit with the festivities of the season. My home life was a constant revelation of delight and happiness. The income from my business had increased to double that of the previous year, and the future looked bright indeed. Just at this time came to me in an evil hour a temptation to which I yielded, and I have always wondered how, under all the conditions then existing, I could have been so weak. My accumulations had not been invested, and as I had in my business no use for capital, the money remained idle in bank. Crossing the ferry one morning I was joined by a friend in the employ of a Stock Exchange firm, then well known, but since retired from business. I had been thinking of an investment and spoke to him on the subject, telling him the amount of money I had to invest. I had in mind the buying of some good bonds. My friend, who was a most plausible talker, had, I understood, made considerable money in Wall Street, and when he told me of a movement in certain stocks then being manipulated for a rise, through his office, I was at first interested and then carried away with the desire to enter what seemed such an easy road to wealth. He told me of several instances where the investment of a few thousands had resulted in enormous profits. These stories usually get to public knowledge one way or another, but the other side, the vastly greater number of cases where ruin and often worse follows, one does not hear so much of.