Born to Gamble

Carter Mathews, a member of a club of wealthy men, asserts that gambling is a futile method of settling matters. He recounts his own family history to validate his point, relating a series of tragedies that continue to haunt him: Carter's father-in-law, "Ace" Cartwright, dies in a duel in Colorado in the 1860's as the result of his last wager. Later, Carter and his wife Paula's four sons all display from earliest childhood the traits of their maternal grandfather's vice. As the Mathews boys grow to manhood, their urge to gamble becomes increasingly stronger. Paul, the eldest son, forges his father's name on checks, and Fred Mathews is expelled from college for organizing a football betting pool. The shame and humiliation brought about by her sons's activities breaks Paula's heart, and she dies a few years later. Once a year, Carter gathers his sons together in order to commemorate the anniversary of their mother's death, and at one of these occasions, which takes place after the outbreak of World War I, Paul, who has become an aviator, announces his plans to join the Lafayette Escadrille in France and to sail over on the doomed liner, the Lusitania , in order to win a friendly bet. Although the youngest son, Henry, a college student, appears to have escaped the influence of his grandfather's vice, the older boys each become the victim of a disastrous fate. Fred, a Wall Street broker, habitually handles questionable transactions, and commits suicide after losing a large sum of money in the stock market. Earl obtains a $5,000 loan in order to start a bootlegging business and is later murdered by a rival gang. After the murder of Earl, Henry begins to disintegrate, drinking heavily and frequenting the race track, where he becomes the partner and friend of an infamous gangster. They create a prosperous business fixing boxing and wrestling matches, until the gangster bets all of his funds on a single, supposedly fixed fight whose outcome leaves him bankrupt. After the gangster accuses Henry of double-crossing him, Henry retaliates by claiming that the gangster killed Earl and declaring that he will avenge his brother's death. During their heated argument, an unknown assailant shoots the gangster, and Henry, who is initially charged but later acquitted of the crime, finally changes his ways. He takes over his father's failing piano company and saves it from bankruptcy, after which he marries his girl friend Cora Strickland.