The Model Millionaire: A Summary of Kindness and Reward

The Model Millionaire

A Charming But Poor Young Man

Hughie Erskine was a charming man, but he didn't have any money because he wasn't clever enough to make it.

He had grey eyes and brown hair. Both men and women liked him.

He had tried several jobs, including:

• Working in a bank
• Selling tea
• Selling wine

However, he wasn't successful in any of them.

When his father died, Hughie's only inheritance was some old books and a sword.

Hughie was in love with a woman named Laura Merton, but her father, a retired colonel, would not allow them to marry because Hughie was poor.

One day, Hughie went to visit his great friend, Alan Trevor, who was a painter. When he arrived, he saw Trevor painting a portrait of an old beggar.

Hughie admired the picture and commented that Trevor would sell it for a lot of money.

Hughie asked Trevor how much the model earned. Trevor replied, "Twelve pence an hour." Hughie, thinking about the two thousand pounds Trevor would get for the painting, felt the beggar deserved more. When Trevor left the room for a moment, Hughie kindly gave the beggar a pound and a few pence—all the money he had.

Afterward, Hughie visited Laura and told her what he had done. Laura gently chided him for being so generous when he had so little money himself.

An Interesting Model

Later, Hughie went to his club and found Trevor there.

Trevor informed him that the "beggar" was very interested in him. Apparently, Trevor had told the man all about Hughie, Laura, and the colonel's condition for their marriage.

Hughie was angry, not wanting his personal affairs discussed with a beggar. It was then that Trevor revealed the truth: the model was no beggar at all. He was, in fact, a millionaire named Baron Hausberg, one of Trevor's friends, who had commissioned a portrait of himself depicted as a beggar.

The following day, Hughie received an envelope from the Baron. Inside was a cheque for £10,000 as a wedding present for him and Laura. At their wedding, Alan Trevor served as the best man, and Baron Hausberg gave a speech at the breakfast. Hughie was indeed lucky to have met a true model millionaire.