At the outset of my stock-gambling experience I was one day in the office of President Edward H. Green, of the Louisville and Nashville Railway, no relation of Dr. Norvin Green, but the husband of the famous Hetty Green. He said to me, “How are you in stocks?”
“What do you mean?” said I.
“Why,” he said, “do you buy long, or short? Are you lucky or unlucky?”
“You are talking Greek to me,” I answered.
“Didn’t you ever put up any money on a margin?”
“Never.”
“Bless me! You are a virgin. I want to try your luck. Look over this stock list and pick a stock. I will take a crack at it. All I make we’ll divide, and all we lose I’ll pay.”
“Will you leave this open for an hour or two?”
“What is the matter with it—is it not liberal enough?”
“The matter is that I am going over to the Western Union to lunch. The Gould party is to sit in with the Orton-Green party for the first time after their fight, and I am asked especially to be there. I may pick up something.”