Page:The Wizard of Wall Street and his Wealth.djvu/325

 "I'd be well off if I had $5,000," replied the surveyor.

The surveying was done, and one day, some months later, Mr. Gould asked Mr. Morosini what the surveyor's name was and directed him to send the man a check for $5,000, with the remark:

"We'll make him the richest man in Colorado."

One of the stories told of Mr. Gould to illustrate his determination to die a rich man whatever happened was this: In 1884, when it was ascertained that Mr. Gould was in financial danger, he took from his safe $11,000,000 worth of stock of the Manhattan and the Missouri Pacific railroads and stowed it away in an iron box, which he locked and sealed.

He resolved that that box should never be opened until after his death, and that no matter what happened the securities should not be touched. He carried the box, it was said, to the vaults of a safe deposit company, where it was locked up, and the particular vault in which it was placed was sealed, too. Instructions were given to the officers of the company that the seal on the vault was not to be broken until after his death, and then only in the presence of all of his executors.

Ex-Judge John F. Dillon knew Mr. Gould intimately. He first met the financier in 1879, and was his legal adviser in many of his undertakings.

"There were many distinct characteristics about Mr. Gould," said Mr. Dillon. "I never knew him to utter a profane word, and he was as delicate and sensitive in temperament as a woman. Mr. Gould