When Clyde Griffiths was still a child, his religious-minded parents took him and his brothers and sisters around the streets
of various cities, where they prayed and sang in public. The family was always very poor, but the fundamentalist faith of the Griffithses was their hope and mainstay throughout the storms and troubles of life. Young Clyde was never religious, however, and he always felt ashamed of the life his parents were living. As soon as he was old enough to make decisions for himself, he went his own way. At age sixteen, he got a job as a bellboy in a Kansas City hotel. There the salary and the tips he received astonished him. For the first time in his life he had money in his pocket, and he could dress well and enjoy himself. Then a tragedy overwhelmed the family. Clyde’s sister Hester, or "Esta," ran away, supposedly to be married. Her elopement was a great blow to their parents, but Clyde did not brood over the matter. Life was too pleasant for him; more and more, he enjoyed the luxuries that his job provided. He made friends with the other bellhops and joined them in parties that revolved around liquor and women. Clyde soon became familiar with drink and brothels.
One day, he discovered that his sister was back in town. The man with whom she had run away had deserted her, and she was penniless and pregnant. Knowing his sister needed money, Clyde gave his mother a few dollars for her. He promised to give her more; instead, he bought an expensive coat for a girl in the hope that she would yield herself to him. One night, he and his friends went to a party in a car that did not belong to them. Coming back from their outing, they ran over a little girl. In their attempt to escape, they wrecked the car. Clyde fled to Chicago.
In Chicago he got
work at the Union League Club, where he eventually met his wealthy
uncle, Samuel Griffiths. The uncle, who owned a factory in Lycurgus, New York, took a fancy to Clyde and offered him work in the factory. Clyde went to Lycurgus. There his cousin, Gilbert, resented this cousin from the Midwest. The whole family, with the exception of his uncle, considered Clyde beneath them socially and would not accept him into their circle. Clyde was given a job at the very bottom of the business, but his uncle soon made him a supervisor.
In the meantime, Sondra Finchley, who disliked Gilbert, began to invite Clyde to parties that she and her friends often gave. Her main purpose was to annoy Gilbert. Clyde’s growing popularity forced the Griffithses to receive him socially, much to Gilbert’s disgust. In the course of his work at the factory, Clyde met Roberta Alden, with whom he soon fell in love. Since it was forbidden for a supervisor to mix socially with an employee, they had to meet secretly. Clyde attempted to persuade Roberta to give herself to him, but the girl refused. At last, rather than lose him, she consented and became his mistress. At the same time, Clyde was becoming fascinated by Sondra. He came to love her and hoped to marry her and, thus, acquire the wealth and social position for which he yearned. Gradually, Clyde began breaking dates with Roberta in order to be with Sondra every moment that she could spare him. Roberta began to be suspicious and eventually discovered the truth.
Roberta also discovered that she was pregnant. Clyde went to drugstores for medicine to terminate the pregnancy, which did not work. He attempted to find a doctor of questionable reputation. Roberta went to see one physician, who refused to perform an operation. Clyde and Roberta were both becoming desperate, and Clyde saw his possible marriage to the girl as a dismal ending to all his hopes for a bright future. He told himself that he did not love Roberta, that it was Sondra whom he wished to marry. Roberta asked him to marry her for the sake of her child, saying she would go away afterward, if he wished, so that he could be free of her. Clyde would not agree to her proposal and grew more irritable and worried.
One day he read an item in the newspaper about the accidental drowning of a couple who had gone boating. A plan began to form in his mind. He told Roberta that he would marry her and persuaded her to accompany him to an isolated lake resort. There, as though accidentally, he lunged toward her. She was hit by his camera and fell into the water. Clyde escaped, confident that her drowning would look like an accident, even though he had planned it all carefully. He had been careless, however, and letters that he and Roberta had written were found. When her condition became known, he was arrested. His uncle obtained an attorney for him. At his trial, the defense built up an elaborate case in his favor. Yet, in spite of his lawyer’s efforts, he was found guilty and sentenced to be electrocuted. His mother came to see him and urged him to save his soul. A clergyman finally succeeded in getting Clyde to write a statement—a declaration that he repented of his sins. It was doubtful if the religious statement was sincere. Clyde died in the electric chair, a young man driven to betrayal, murder, and his own destruction by desire for luxury and wealth.