“Of course it does, Bob, fer you see we wouldn’t have but one go at the game with only five dollars; would we, Herbert?”
“Five dollars wouldn’t go very far, for a fact,” replied Herbert, “and in my opinion it would be lost very quickly.”
“But I’ve heard of fellers that went down there without no money, and they made loads of it.”
“Very true,” said Herbert; “but did you ever hear of the thousands that went down there and came away without a cent?”
“No, I never did,” admitted Bob, frankly.
Tom smiled quietly, for he felt that Bob would have to acknowledge himself mistaken, and at last come over to his side.
“Well, now, there is the very point,” said Herbert, “and it is the one that nobody stops to think about. A report is circulated that some one makes a big haul in Wall Street, and, without thinking about the thousands of people that lose money there, a thousand or two more people try their luck at speculating, thinking, each one of them, to make a great haul too. But the result is the same as it was with the other thousand speculators—the money is swallowed up, and gone forever.”
“What becomes of it all?” asked Bob, much impressed by Herbert’s well founded argument.
“Well, the most of it goes into the pockets of the kings.”
“Then I shouldn’t think them kings would get busted, as you say they do,” said Bob, always keen at making a point.