One chill, dreary night, in early spring, cold, hungry, and with scarce clothing to cover him respectably, he had wandered into a small mining-town of the far West. The proprietors of a rude hostelry had given him a scant supper, and allowed him to sleep in the adjoining stable. The next morning he had let himself to a carpenter, and for several weeks followed this trade, earning a couple of dollars a day.
Then one Sunday he, in company with another carpenter, made a trip to a mining-camp higher up among the mountains. The following morning they gave their notice to their employer, and, a week later, with picks, shovels, and a few supplies, started out on a prospecting tour.
Just one month from that time the hungry, destitute man, who a few short weeks previous had been wandering aimlessly about eking out an insufficient existence, stuck “pay-gravel” and—his fortune was made.
Two years afterward he made another lucky find in a California mine, and gold poured in upon him in a perfect flood.
Four years later, upon an imposing building in a busy street of San Francisco, might have been seen in heavy gilt letters, the legend: “William Temple, Banker,” while behind the glass doors of his private office the man sat for a few hours of every day to keep an eye upon the corps of efficient workers who managed his princely business.
There was little resemblance in the stately, distinguished, richly clad gentleman to the hungry, poverty-stricken carpenter and miner of a few years previous.
During the early years of his life he had acquired a good education, and thus, when wealth turned her tide upon him, it was no difficult matter, with careful reading, attention to the rules of etiquette and the accessories of broadcloth and fine linen, to make a good appearance and gain a foothold in society.
Not very long after establishing himself in San Francisco and attaining a position among the élite, he met the beautiful and accomplished widow, Mrs. Wentworth, from New York, who, with her son, a lad of about ten years, was visiting some friends in the city.
They were mutually attracted toward each other from the first, and, after a brief courtship of three months, they were married and set up a magnificent establishment on “Nob Hill,” and became at once prominent among the leaders of society.
The following year Mr. Temple, having become interested in politics, and ambitious to attain to even greater heights, was elected mayor of the city, and served in that capacity for two years.