James D. Hague 



istic anecdote of Mr. Cutter that this 

 imaginary fortune of $400,000 af- 

 forded him not only the illusory de- 

 light of acquiring it, as he thought he 

 had done at the time, with the real 

 pleasure of giving it to King, as he 

 actually did in his will, but, moreover, 

 the great satisfaction of saving it from 

 loss, as he believed he had, by a very 

 rare streak of good luck. 



About the time when he was daily 

 expecting to realize his profit of $400,- 

 000, the trusted friend and private 

 banker with whom he intended to 

 deposit the whole sum came to grief 

 in a disastrous failure, which swept 

 away everything in his possession ; 

 and Mr. Cutter's money, had it been 

 realized and so deposited, would thus 

 have been wholly lost. " It was the 

 narrowest escape of my life," he after- 

 wards said, " the closest shave I ever 

 had." It made him shudder to think 

 how nearly he had accomplished the 

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