The growth of young Frank Algernon Cowperwood was through years of whatmight be called a comfortable and happy family existence. ButtonwoodStreet, where he spent the first ten years of his life, was a lovelyplace for a boy to live. It contained mostly small two and three-storyred brick houses, with small white marble steps leading up to the frontdoor, and thin, white marble trimmings outlining the front door andwindows. There were trees in the street—plenty of them. The...

The Philadelphia into which Frank Algernon Cowperwood was born was acity of two hundred and fifty thousand and more. It was set withhandsome parks, notable buildings, and crowded with historic memories.Many of the things that we and he knew later were not then inexistence—the telegraph, telephone, express company, ocean steamer,city delivery of mails. There were no postage-stamps or registeredletters. The street car had not arrived. In its place were hosts ofomnibuses, and for longer...