Man Proposes

"Man Proposes" by Rex Ellingwood Beach is a gripping adventure novel that delves into the themes of ambition, love, and the complexities of human relationships amidst challenging circumstances. Set against an exotic backdrop, the story follows the protagonist as he navigates personal and moral dilemmas while pursuing wealth and fulfillment. Beach's rich storytelling and vivid characterizations explore the impact of choices on one's life and the unpredictable nature of fate. Ultimately, the novel reflects on the age-old adage that while humans may plan, the outcomes are often shaped by forces beyond their control.

• Short story

								
THE STORY OF A MAN WHO WANTED TO DIE

I

There were seventeen policies in all and they aggregated an even million
dollars. It thrilled Butler Murray to note his own name neatly typed
upon the outside of each. Those papers possessed a remarkable
fascination for him, not only because they meant the settlement of his
debt to Muriel, but because his life, instead of being the wholly
useless thing he had come to regard it, was really, by virtue of those
documents, a valuable asset upon which he could realize at once.

One million dollars was a great deal of money, even to Butler Murray,
and yet it was so easy! Why, it was even easier to make that amount than
it had been to spend it! Although the former process might not prove so
amusing, it at least offered a degree of interest wholly lacking in the
latter.

When DeVoe entered, Murray greeted him warmly. "I'm glad I caught you,
Henry. They told me you've been out West somewhere."

"Yes, I'm promoting, you know--mines!" DeVoe flung off his fur coat and
settled into an easy-chair.

"Getting along all right?"

"No. My friends either know too little about mines or too much about me.
I've a good proposition, though, and if I could ever get started, I'd
clean up a million."

"It's not so hard to make a million dollars."

"How the deuce do you know? You've never had to try. By the way, why are
you living here at the club? Where is Mrs. Murray?"

"She is at the farm with the children. We have--separated."

"No! Jove! I'm sorry. What does it mean--the road to Reno?"

"I hardly think she will divorce me, on account of the publicity;
although she ought to."

"Woman scrape, I suppose."

"No, nothing like that. I've spent all her money."

DeVoe opened his eyes in amazement. "Oh, see here now, you couldn't
spend it all! Why, she had even more than you!"

"It's all gone--hers and mine."

"Good Lord!"

"Yes. I was always extravagant, but I've been speculating lately. I
thought I'd get a sensation either way the market went, but I was
disappointed. I dare say I have exhausted my capabilities for
excitement. It's a long story, and I won't bore you with it, but, to be
exact, all I have left is the town house and the farm and the place in
Virginia. There isn't enough income, however, to keep any one of them
going."

"Well, well! You have been stepping along. Why, it's inconceivable!"
DeVoe stirred uneasily in his chair. The calm indifference of this
broad-shouldered, immaculate fellow amazed him. He could not tell
whether it was genuine or assumed, and in either event he was sorry he
had come, for he did not like to hear tales of misfortune. Butler
Murray, the millionaire, was a good man to know, but--

"I sent for you because I need--"

"See here, Butler," the younger man broke in, abruptly, "you know I
can't lend. I'm borrowing myself. In fact, I was going to make a touch
on you."

"Oh, I don't want your money; I want your help. I think, perhaps, I'm
entitled to it, eh?"

Henry flushed a trifle. "You're welcome to that at all times, of course,
and if I had a bank-roll, I'd split it with you, but I just can't seem
to get started."

"Suppose you had twenty-five thousand dollars, cash; would that help?"

"Help! Great Heavens! I could swing this deal; it would put me on my
feet."

"I'm ready to pay you that amount for a few weeks of your time."

"Take a year of it, two years. Take my life's blood. Twenty-five
thousand! You needn't tell me any more; just name the job and I'll take
my chances of being caught. But--I say, you just told me you were
broke."

"I received about fifty thousand dollars from the sale of the yacht, and
I invested the money. I want you to help me realize on that investment."
Murray tossed the packet of papers he had been examining into DeVoe's
lap.

After scrutinizing them an instant, the latter looked up with a crooked,
startled stare.

"Are you joking? Why, these are your insurance policies!"

"Exactly! There are seventeen of them, and they foot up one million
dollars--the limit in every company. They begin to expire in March, and
I don't intend to renew them. In fact, I couldn't if I wanted to."

The two men regarded each other silently for a moment, then the younger
paled.

"Are you--crazy?" he gasped.

"The doctors didn't think so, and that is the heaviest life insurance
carried by any man in America, with a few exceptions. Do you think they
would have passed me if I'd been wrong up here?" He tapped his forehead.
"I intend that you shall receive twenty-five thousand dollars of that
money; the rest will go to Muriel."

DeVoe continued to stare alternately at the policies and his friend;
then cleared his throat nervously.

"Let's talk plainly."

"By all means. You will need to know the truth, but you are the only one
outside of myself who will. For some time I have felt the certainty that
I am going to die."

"Nonsense! You are an ox."

"The more I've thought about it the more certain I've become, until now
there isn't the slightest doubt in my mind. I took my last dollar and
bought that insurance. Do you understand? I'm considered rich, therefore
they allowed me to take out a million dollars."

"Sui--God Almighty, man!" DeVoe's sagging jaw snapped shut with a click.

"Let me finish; then you can decide whether I'm sane or crazy, and
whether you want that twenty-five thousand dollars enough to help me. To
begin with, I'll grant you that I'm young--only forty--healthy and
strong. But I'm broke, Henry. I don't believe you realize what that
means to a chap who has had two fortunes handed to him and has
squandered both. I'm really twice forty years of age, perhaps three
times, for I have lived faster than most men. I have been everywhere, I
have seen everything, I have done everything--except manual labor, and
of course I don't know how to do that--I have had every sensation. I'm
sated and old, and sometimes I'm a bit tired. I have no enthusiasm left,
and I'm bankrupt. To make matters worse I have a wife who knows the
truth and two lovely children who do not. Those kids believe I'm a hero
and the greatest man in all the universe; in their eyes I'm a sort of
demigod, but in a few years they'll learn that I have been a waster and
thrown away not only my own fortune, but the million that belonged to
them. That will be tough for all of us. Muriel knows how deeply I've
wronged her, but she is too much a thoroughbred to make it public.
Nevertheless, she detests me, and I detest myself; she may decide to
divorce me. At any rate, I have wrecked whatever home life I used to
have, for I'll never be able to support her, even if I sell the three
places. I'll be known as a failure; I'll be ridiculed by the world. On

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