"Or believing it!" Mr. Merriman laughed savagely, "What are they saying of me these days?" he asked.
Brett hesitated.
"Come, come," said the great man, in a mocking voice. "You are here without an invitation. Entertain me! Entertain me! Make good!"
Brett was nettled.
"Well," said he, "they say that Mr. Waters was tremendously extended for a rise in stocks, and that you found it out, and that you hate him, and that you went for him to give him a lesson, and that you pulled all the props out of the market, and smashed it all to pieces, just for a private spite. That's what they say!"
The banker was silent for quite a long time.
"If there wasn't something awful about that," he said at last, "it would be very funny."
The officer who had ushered Brett into the saloon appeared at the door.
"Well?" said Merriman curtly.
"There's a gentleman," said the officer, "who wants to come aboard. He says you are expecting him. But as you only mentioned one gentleman—"