“So I do, Bob, so I do; but you see so many folks loses money down there in Wall Street, and some of them big fellers, too, with heaps of money, just dead loads of it, to back ’em.”
“Well, that’s so, Tom, I know they loses sometimes, but don’t lots of ’em make money? Now answer me that.”
“Yes, you are right, Bob, they do some of ’em strike it rich, but as you said about the racin’ I guess the money ain’t good money, fer it don’t stick to ’em.”
“Well, I should think it stuck to Jay Gould, didn’t it?”
“Yes, he is one of the few successful ones,” said Herbert, answering the question for Tom.
“Yes, but there are lots and lots of them kings of Wall Street,” persisted Bob, who had a strong desire to become a speculator.
“So there are, Bob,” replied Herbert, “but they do not hold their rank throughout their lives. A man that is called a king in Wall Street one day, may be a beggar the next day.”
“Think of that, Bob,” put in Tom Flannery, exultantly.
“Well, I know, but then them kings don’t all go up like that.”
“But the majority of them do. If you will get a book that gives the history of Wall Street, you will be surprised to see how thousands, hundreds of thousands, and even millions, are swept away almost without warning.”