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ne wet : coe ore oe
#
He
By - took advantage of the first chance to visit. the
ty fourth floor of the Chelsea Building, and there,
dy ‘sure enough, ‘he saw Fred’s name on the door of
He: the office he had playfully. recommended .to- his
" notice. oe a oe
/ ‘So Yardley opened the door and entered. Fred
_ “awas at-his desk studying a market report, while
his office boy sat near the door, book.‘in hand,
S ‘reading. Waddie jumped uv and asked Yardley.
fee if he wished to see Mr. Sparks. .The visitor al-
—-~ most gasped. Fred, looking up and recognizing
_ him, cried: ;
- “Hello, Yardley!
seat. / , Sallie cis
~ Joe stepped forward, taking in all the appoint-
ments of the little office,-and then slid into a seat
- before opening his mouth. . 9). ©
. “So you did do it, eh?” he said...
. “Do what?” 2 2 .. ;
“Hire an: office’and-set up as a banker and
broker.” te :
“Sure,” laughed Fred. “Why not?” .
~ “Why not? I think you_have the allfiredest
“nerve of any chap in Wall Street.” . /
.“Thanks for the compliment, Yardley.” :
_..#You’re welcome. -Do- you expect’to do any
' ‘business in this den?” —.. / Lo ae
“J do. I’ve already done cnough to pay. my
present_expenses’ for three years.” . . Lot
“You tell that pretty well,” remarked Yardley,
incredulously. | tars ‘
. “That is as much
me, I take it.” / *
“Well, don’t get mad_ over it,” said Yardley.
- |.“How can I believe you? I leave it to yourself.
~ Doesn’t it sound ridiculous?” ees ,
oe «- @Well, I'l] admit that it looks-like stretching
- ~~ .. the truth, but it is ‘the fact, nevertheless.” ~
“Tf the truth, how did you do it?” . :
“Well, I got: an order froma friend of mine,
' who is a big trader, to buy. a; whole lot of stock:
_. He wanted to give me a boost to encourage me.:
—Well, I bought the stock and the. commission
_amounted to over $5,000. That’s the whole story.
JY don’t care about telling. my. business even to
- my best friends, but I hated to have you go away
“syvith the idea that I’m an awful liar.”
“Oh, come, now,-Sparks, do you expect me to
believe that- any broker would give you an order
- “oy
tanh
on which the commission was $5,000?. If you said -
reserve the right to doubt it.. What kind of ‘bug>-
have you got in your head, anyhow? Brokers are
~ not going out of their way to help messenger boys. -
:
{
t
j
be
| - - $500 I might believe you, but even at that I would
i
|
-’ yeally helped you to as much as $100 I think he
was doing a great thing. for you. But $5,000!
Say, you make -me laugh.” , -
Yardley’s incredulity greatly annoyed Fred. Yet
his visitor could hardly. be blamed for his unbe-
-.lief. Had their positions been reversed Fred him-.
epuldn’t put himself in Yardley’s place, and con-
sequently his friend’s attitude in the matter jarred .
on his sensibilities. ad
no ~ “Look here, Yardley, suppose you found a pock-
“te etbhook in the street with $5,000 in it, and you
put it in your office safe, and. afterward when
“you met-me somewhere and told me about it I
should give you the merry ha-ha, and call it a fish
?
A GOLDEN SHOWER
_ replied his visitor. ~ .
na, ae - .will say_a few words when I get back to: the
-Glad to, see you.. Take a. : ome
- , : - you: continue to make: money ‘as. fast “as' you say:
- just finishing their meal at a table near him...
to say that you don’t believe .
_ But we.want to get busy, or.we won’t be able to
get a start in-life. If one of your broker friends"
self’ would have found it impossible to. swallow |
the same story, true though it was. Of course he |
story, wouldn’t it ‘make “you “mad?” said: Fréd, :
_ with a-flushed fare o 2 ee
~ “It might, but I could. go and: get the~pocket-"—
- book, show -it to you and prove my Statement,” &} ~
“T suppose my story won’t hold water with you -:
unléss I get the broker: who-paid me the money.
to sign an affidavit-of the fact?’ Well, «sonny;
‘that won’t happen.” 0 20) 8s cs
-“No, I don’t think it. will,”-chuckled Yardley-’
“Well, I guess Vll have.to be going; or my boss.
of-.
If"
fice. Tlf drop in and see you ‘some other time.
you are doing I’ll expect to find you with‘a suite:
of rooms‘and a force of. clerks digging away at.
their books to beat the band. Be good to your-' ||
self, old man,” and Joe Yardley got up, nodded *;
cheerfully at Fred and departed. «©. 2
The young banker and broker took up the mar- .
ket report again and studied it over for a while, ©-\..
then he put on his hat’ and went out. After >:
spending an hour or more at the Exchange he 4;
felt hungry. . Going to a well-known-cafe, much “|
frequented by brokers, he-took his seat at ‘are: <
tired table and ordered‘lunch. Tiwo brokers were —
They seemed ‘to be in good spirits and were top-:.~
ping off their feast with a bottle of chamnagne. -
“We'll make a raft ‘of money out of M. &0..” |
said one. : “It’s a fine thing to have a good friend.
on the inside when there’s something worth while. -
on the tapis.”> a Po “s ee
“Yes, Jack is all right, but then we’ve done him;
‘more than one good turn, you: know, and the tip ¢
he handed out was to square himself. with us.” 5.
‘ “Shall we take Bob Brierly in with us on this? +.
He’s a good fellow, and I owe him a favor.” . |
_ “Sure. _The three of us can pool an equal sum
and then divide the profits when the. time comes.
thes ns aman pan
enema pe
get- the stock... By Saturday M.°& O. will be as7.:-
scarce as hen’s teeth.” . : np
“How high do you think it-will go?”’ Bt pe
‘Jack said we’d be safe to hold on for 65. That ~;-
the arrangements of the poo! are to boom it to”;
that figure at least. It will probably. go up 2—
couple of points between-this and Saturday, but
on Monday it will. begin to attract attention and _
. then the fun will begin. I calculate that it will”
be up to 65.by Wednesday, and then we will con-.~
sider whether we’d better sell or hold on a while.
longer.” cod TES seen 7 a
~The approach of the waiter with Fred’s order
cat short-any further conversation. onthe. part —
of the two man. They finished their wine, got UP}
and went toward the cashier’s -desk, leaving. the ot
boy to begin his lunch and ponder over the inz
*formation he had just- acquired. - The result. of
his deliberations were that -M.. & O. looked like 4 —
good stock*to buy. Consulting the market report: :
he had in his. pocket, he saw that the stock w33--
ruling-at 51... When he got back to his office he’”
looked up. M. & O. in a book that gave the daily.
quotations of all stocks for a year back, and found
that the stock had not sold lower than 48 at any:
time, while, when prices were generally high, it:
had touched 62. “After considering the matter
well, he decided to buy 1,000 shares right away On
margin, and see what would happen. . He gave the»
tome Ea
i pa
en ee ee
Cota Me Y mate,
is
order to the friendly broker on the floor below»
Ka ag a ih SI TAREE A A NEMS ANT Ae RH