Page:Frank Owen - Woman Without Love (1949 reprint).djvu/30

 though his mind were a sponge. He never forgot an important tact after he had read it. At college he did not go in for athletic events nor was he particularly popular with the other students. He did not mind. He wanted to be popular only with those who could be of use to him.

When he cared to exert himself he could win friends. He succeeded in getting into several important fraternities. This he reasoned might give him good background when he started his career in Wall Street. Not for a moment did he doubt that he was going to work in New York. He had no intention of practicing law. He merely studied it so that he would never be victimized, so that he would understand the intricacies of big business, bonds, contracts, options and things of similar nature.

When he graduated he secured a position with a Wall Street banking house, Brown Brothers and Company. Their offices were only a short distance away from those of J. P. Morgan. Morgan was his god. He would willingly have worshipped him if there had been a Morgan Temple. Brown Brothers was a fine old conservative house, a credit to the banking world. Despite his education, Templeton had taken a position as a runner in their bank and his salary was very small. He roomed with the superintendent of the building of 71 Wall Street. It was an old brownstone and red brick building which still had open fireplaces in the offices.

The superintendent lived in an apartment on the roof, a veritable penthouse in the days before the modern expression had been invented. Sometimes at night Templeton walked up and down the roof, absorbed in figures and plans. A short distance away the Wall Street Ferry was still plying to Brooklyn and steamer docks were strewn with merchandise. On the air floated the fragrance of spices from the warehouses on Water Street and Front and occasionally the pungent smell of roasting coffee blotted out every other odor.

Templeton's room was small but the rent was cheap and the broad expanse of roof and sky made up for its lack of space. Besides he was only a few hundred feet from his office, so there was no expense for carfare. He was able to go back to his room for lunch, which also was a saving. During those first