Morphy Miscellanea

Smithsonian.com has a little historical article about Paul Morphy. Most of it is the usual biographical fare, but with a greater emphasis on the impact that the American Civil War had on him, than I've seen in straight chess biographies.
There is also a little story at the end which I was unfamiliar with. Long after he retired from chess Morphy needed $200 urgently, and went to see a friend for a loan. The friend instead offered him $250 to play him at chess, as a test to see how much he disliked chess. Morphy accepted the wager, albeit reluctantly, and then contrived to lose in short order. The sting in the tale was that Morphy then failed to collect the money!