I forget now when the change came and he began to
spend. Some accident must have revealed to him this new source of power,
or some subtle shifting occurred in the tissues of his brain. He began
to spend and "shop." So soon as he began to shop, he began to shop
violently. He began buying pictures, and then, oddly enough, old clocks.
For the Chiselhurst house he bought nearly a dozen grandfather clocks
and three copper warming pans. After that he bought much furniture. Then
he plunged into art patronage, and began to commission pictures and to
make presents to churches and institutions. His buying increased with a
regular acceleration. Its development was a part of the mental changes
that came to him in the wild excitements of the last four years of his
ascent. Towards the climax he was a furious spender; he shopped with
large unexpected purchases, he shopped like a mind seeking expression,
he shopped to astonish and dismay; shopped crescendo, shopped
fortissimo, con molto espressione until the magnificent smash of Crest
Hill eroded his shopping for ever.
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