"Where is Poulton now?" asked Blanchard.
"Twelve and a half," answered Jim.
"Well," explained the Colonel, "the way I have always looked at these things is this. If your money is in a low-priced stock, and it rises a dozen points, then perhaps you double. But if your money is in something high-priced, then on the rise you only make twelve per cent."
"If only," said Jim, "one could be sure which stock will rise!"
"You can make sure by watching," asserted the Colonel.
Once Ellis came in as one of these conversations was in progress; he stood listening while the two amateurs finished their duologue.
"Don't you think so?" they had appealed to him at the end.
"Ah, well," replied the master of finance, "you seem to have got hold of something there." Then he went out on the piazza with Judith, leaving the enthusiasts still more cheerful.
"Your father doesn't act on those ideas of his?" he asked of Judith.
"I hope not—I think not," she answered. "He just likes to talk with Jim."