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by George Randolph Chester
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Title: Five Thousand an Hour
How Johnny Gamble Won the Heiress
Author: George Randolph Chester
Posting Date: August 1, 2009 [EBook #4353]
Release Date: August, 2003
First Posted: January 14, 2002
Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK
FIVE THOUSAND AN HOUR ***
Produced by Charles Franks and the Online
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FIVE THOUSAND
AN HOUR
How Johnny Gamble
Won the Heiress
BY
GEORGE
RANDOLPH

CHESTER
Author of
THE MAKING OF BOBBY BURNIT,
THE EARLY BIRD,
GET-RICH-QUICK WALLINGFORD
ILLUSTRATIONS BY HENRY
RALEIGH
CONTENTS
I
WHICH INTRODUCES
JOHNNY GAMBLE AND HIS
LAST HUNDRED DOLLARS
II
IN WHICH STRANGERS
BECOME OLD FRIENDS
III
IN WHICH JOHNNY GAMBLE
MIXES BUSINESS AND
PLEASURE
IV
IN WHICH GRESHAM FINDS
JOHNNY'S OLD PARTNER
ACCOMMODATING
V
IN WHICH JOHNNY
DISPLAYS TALENT AS A
TRUE PROMOTER
VI
IN WHICH CONSTANCE
DECIDES ON A FAIR GAME

VII
IN WHICH JOHNNY DREAMS
OF A MAGNIFICENT
TWENTY-STORY HOTEL
VIII
IN WHICH CONSTANCE
SHOWS FURTHER INTEREST
IN JOHNNY'S AFFAIRS
IX
IN WHICH JOHNNY MEETS A
DEFENDER OF THE OLD
ARISTOCRACY
X
IN WHICH JOHNNY IS
SINGULARLY THRILLED BY
A LITTLE CONVERSATION
OVER THE TELEPHONE
XI
IN WHICH JOHNNY
EXECUTES SOME
EXCEEDINGLY RAPID
BUSINESS DEALS
XII
IN WHICH JOHNNY EVEN
DOES BUSINESS AT THE
BABIES' FUND FAIR
XIII
IN WHICH JOHNNY BUYS A
PRESENT AND HATCHES A
SCHEME

XIV
IN WHICH JOHNNY TRIES TO
MIX BUSINESS WITH SKAT
XV
IN WHICH WINNIE
CHAPERONS THE ENTIRE
PARTY TO CONEY ISLAND
XVI
IN WHICH JOHNNY PLANS A
REHEARSAL BETWEEN OLD
FRIENDS
XVII
IN WHICH THE STRAW
SAILOR HAT OF JOHNNY
PLAYS AN EMBARRASSING
ROLE
XVIII
IN WHICH THE ENTIRE
WOBBLES FAMILY FOR
ONCE GETS TOGETHER
XIX
IN WHICH THE COLONEL,
MESSRS. COURTNEY,
WASHER AND OTHERS SIT IN
A LITTLE GAME
XX
IN WHICH JOHNNY ASKS
HIMSELF WHAT IS A
MILLION DOLLARS,
ANYWAY

XXI
IN WHICH CONSTANCE
AVAILS HERSELF OF
WOMAN'S PRIVILEGE TO
CHANGE HER MIND
IN WHICH PAUL GRESHAM
XXII PROPOSES A VERY
PRACTICAL ARRANGEMENT
XXIII
IN WHICH THE BRIGHT EYES
OF CONSTANCE "RAIN
INFLUENCE"
XXIV
IN WHICH JOHNNY
DEMANDS SPOT CASH AT
ONCE
XXV
IN WHICH JOHNNY KEEPS
ON DOING BUSINESS TILL
THE CLOCK STRIKES FOUR
FIVE THOUSAND
AN HOUR
CHAPTER I
WHICH INTRODUCES
JOHNNY GAMBLE AND
HIS LAST HUNDRED
DOLLARS
About the time the winner of the
Baltimore Handicap flashed under the
wire, Johnny Gamble started to tear up a

bundle of nice pink tickets on Lady S. Just
then Ashley Loring came by swiftly in the
direction of the betting shed. Loring
stopped and wheeled when he caught sight
of him as did most men who knew him.
"Hello, Johnny! I didn't know you had
run over. How are you picking them to-
day?" he asked.
"With a dream book," answered
Gamble, smiling; "but I ate lobster last
night."
"I didn't know that you cared for the
ponies."
"I don't; and it's mutual. Thought I'd take
one more whirl, though, before the
Maryland governor also closes the tracks
for ever. How are you doing?"
"I'm working on a new system," stated
the tall young man with elation. "With this
scheme, all you have to do is to bet on the
right horse. What did you have in the
handicap?"
"The off bay over there," replied
Gamble, indicating a team attached to a
sprinkling wagon, away on the farther side
of the course. "Have one of her calling
cards, Loring," and he proffered one of the
ex-tickets.
"Lady S?" translated Loring. "I cut her
acquaintance three bets ago." And, turning

just then toward the grandstand, he smiled
up into one of the boxes and lifted his hat.
Glancing in that direction, Gamble was
shocked to find himself looking squarely
into the dark eyes of a strikingly beautiful
young woman who stood with her hands
resting upon the rail.
"What do you know about Collaton?" he
asked; and, in spite of himself, he looked
again. The young lady this time was
laughing with a group of likable young
idlers, all of whom Gamble knew; and,
since the startling stranger was occupied,
he could indulge in a slightly more open
inspection.
"I saw Collaton on the track to-day and
he was making some big bets," replied
Loring with a frown. "He's not broke,
Johnny. He's merely been letting you hold
the bag."
"Well, help me let go. Loring, I must
dissolve that partnership."
The young lawyer shook his head.
"No way to do it so long as the books
remain lost. Unless one of you buys
outright the practically defunct Gamble-
Collaton Irrigation Company and assumes
all its liabilities, you will remain
responsible, since Collaton possesses no
visible property. I'm sure that he stung

you, Johnny."
"Stung me! I'm swelled up yet."
"It's your own fault. You trusted him too
much."
"He trusted me. I sold land."
"Of course he trusted you. Everybody
does. Meantime he was out West incurring
obligations. You should have gone into
bankruptcy and settled at twenty cents on
the dollar when you had a chance, as I
advised you."
"Couldn't. I look in the glass when I
shave. Anyhow, it's all paid now."
"How do you know, with the books lost?
You started in with an equal amount of
money. When that was gone Collaton
announced himself broke—and let you
foot the bills. If he only raked off half of
what he spent he got back his own and a
tidy fortune besides. Your only chance is
to have that enormous land deal turn out a
winner."
"It's worse than Lady S. Tore up my
ticket long ago."
"Quite a plunge on a long shot, with a
welsher like Collator! making the book,"
commented Loring. "He stripped you
clean."
"I have my appetite," insisted Gamble
with a grin. His cheeks were ruddy and

his skin as flawless as a babe's, and his
eyes—exceptionally large—were as clear
as they were direct.
"An appetite like yours only makes it
worse to be broke," laughed Loring.
"There's a plenty of money in New York
if I want any," responded Gamble. "I don't
need money, anyhow, Ashley. I have my
mother fixed—and there's nobody else.
Besides, I'm not broke. I have a hundred.
Do you know a good horse?"
"Nautchautauk," advised Loring, and
they both turned in the direction of the
betting shed. "The price will probably be
short; but I look on it as an investment."
"You can't invest a hundred dollars,"
argued Gamble.
"You don't mean to say that a hundred's
all you have in the world!" returned
Loring. "I thought you'd saved a good deal
more than that out of the wreck."
"I did; but my brother was broke,"
replied Gamble carelessly, and stopped in
front of a blackboard. The price on
Nautchautauk was one and a half to two. "I
don't want a bet," he remarked, shaking his
head at the board; "I need an accident. I
wonder if that goat Angora has horns and
a beard?"
"People try fifty-to-one shots just before

they cut their throats," warned Loring.
"Hide my safety-razor then. Angora
carries my hundred. I'll feed a sawbuck
apiece to ten books."
Loring lost sight of him for a few
moments, but found him outside, by and
by, in conversation with "Colonel"
Bouncer, a heavily-jowled man with
grizzled hair and very friendly eyes
which, however, could look quite cold
enough on occasion. The colonel was
staring up at the box occupied by the
young lady to whom Loring had bowed.
"Bless my soul, I'm getting near-
sighted!" he was saying as Loring joined
them. "Isn't that Paul Gresham up there
with Miss Joy?"
"Is that her name?" asked Gamble
eagerly. "Well, I believe it."
The colonel turned from him impatiently.
"You know Gresham, don't you, Loring?
Is that he up there in that box?"
"That is Saint Paul all right," answered
Loring with a smile, as he glanced up at
the prim and precise Gresham, who had
now succeeded in fencing Miss Joy in a
corner, away from the other young men.
"Thanks," said the colonel, and walked
away abstractedly, his eyes still turning in
the direction of the box, although he did

not even start to go up into the grandstand.
"The colonel is still bargain-hunting,"
observed Loring with a laugh. "His shoe-
manufacturing business has increased to
the point that he must have more space—
and he must have it at once. The only
available ground is Gresham's adjoining
property, which Gresham long ago gave
up trying to sell him. The colonel is crazy
to buy it now, but he's afraid to let
Gresham know he must have it, for fear
Saint Paul will run up the price on him. In
consequence, he trails the man round like
a love-sick boy after an actress. When he
finds Gresham he only looks at him—and
goes away. That's only half of the laugh,
however. Gresham wants to sell as badly
as the colonel wants to buy, but he doesn't
know where to find a fancy market. Queer
case, isn't it?"
"Yes," replied Gamble. "Who's Miss
Joy?"
"For heaven's sake, Johnny, don't say
you're hit too—even at long distance!"
"Hit!" repeated Gamble—"I'm flattened
out. I'm no lady-fusser, Ashley, but I'm
going to buy a new necktie."
"You don't even know she's rich, do
you?" asked Loring, looking at him with a
curious smile.

"Of course I do!" asserted Johnny. "I
saw her eyes. Who is she?"
"That's Miss Constance Joy—an orphan
worth an exact million dollars; although I
believe there is some sort of a string to it,"
Loring told him. "She lives with her aunt,
who is Mrs. Pattie Boyden, and she's so
pretty that even women forgive her.
Anything else you want to know?"
"Yes. Why do I want to bite Paul
Gresham?"
"Hush!" admonished Loring. "He is the
remnant of one of our very best imported
families, and he needs the money. He sells
a piece of father's property every year,
and he haunts Miss Joy like a pestilence. I
think he's mixed up in her million some
way or other. Aunt Pattie approves of him
very much; she is strong for family."
"I'll bite him yet," decided Gamble.
"Say, Loring, how am I going to make a
stringless million?"
"If I knew that, I wouldn't be your
lawyer," declared Loring. "Excuse me,
Johnny; there's a client of mine."