“Lend me the money now, and I’ll pay it back to you when you give me what I make on the deal,” she said, with fine finality. And seeing hesitation in Bob’s face, she added, solemnly: “Honest, I will, Bob. I’ll pay you back every cent, this time.”
“I’ll think about it,” said Bob. He always said it when he had capitulated, and she knew it, and so she said, magnanimously: “Very well, dear.”
Lindheim thought 1,000 shares would do it, so he decided to sell a thousand the next day, for you can never tell what may happen, and accidents seldom help the bulls. But as he thought of it in his office more calmly, more deliberately, away from his wife and from the influence she exercised over him, it struck him forcibly that it was wrong to sell 1,000 shares of Turpentine stock. He might as well as not make it 2,500; and he did. He was really a modest fellow, and very young. His wife’s cousin sold the stock for him, apparently short.
Total breach of faith, 17,500 shares. The market stood it well. Sharpe was certainly a wonderful chap.
Unfortunately, Morris Steinfelder, Jr., decided to sell 1,500 “Turp,” and did so. The stock actually rose a half point on his sales. So he sold another 1,500, and, as a sort of parting shot, 500 shares more. All this through an unsuspected broker.
Total breach of faith, 21,000 shares. The market was but slightly affected.
Then Louis Reis of Reis & Stern, “Andy” Fischel of Kohn, Fischel & Co., Hugo Zeman of Zeman Bros., and “Joe” Shaffran of Rosenthal, Shaffran & Co., all thought they could break their pledges to Sharpe with impunity, and each sold, to be on the safe side. This last lump figured up as follows:
| Sales First Contemplated. | Period of Hesitancy. | Actual Sales. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shares. | Minutes. | Shares. | |
| Louis Reis | 1,500 | 3 | 2,600 |
| Andy Fischel | 2,000 | 15 | 5,000 |
| Hugo Zeman | 1,000 | 0 | 1,000 |
| Joe Shaffran | 500 | 1¾ | 1,800 |
Total breach of faith, 31,400 shares.
The market did not take it well. Sharpe, endeavoring to realize on the remainder of his manipulative purchases, found that “some one had been there before him.”