“That’s almost the same as bankruptcy, isn’t it?”
“It is bankruptcy,” I said; but I added that rumors just then were very wild in Wall Street and so false in general that the worse they were the less they were heeded, people reacting to them in a disbelieving, contrary manner.
She shook her head doubtfully.
“Are you going to tell me what Mr. Valentine’s opinion is?”
“He would not recommend anyone to buy the stock just now,” I said. “He makes no secret of seeing darkly.”
“The rocks again,” she said. “And no more legacies to save us. Nearly all of our rich relatives are already dead.”
The realism of youth!
I could not resist the opportunity to ask one question.
“I can understand your case,” I said, “but the others,—your mother and grandmother,—they are not helpless. Why do they hand over their money for these adventures in high finance? Or perhaps they believe in your father’s star.”