“She’ll rise a couple of points more. Sell every share you can find a buyer for! . . . It wasn’t such a bad move to hold off for awhile. You’ll have a better market, Monday, because of it.”
An uncertain look came into Gillett’s red face. Joe caused his own face to look wooden. The stockbroker lowered his eyes. He could see that the current was already setting the other way.
“How about that item on the news ticker to-day?” asked Judge Keep. “It was stated that our new machine, wouldn’t work.”
“And it won’t either,” grumbled Shriver. “I can’t do anything with it.”
“I instigated that story,” said Joe, flicking the ash off his cigarette.
Gillett stared. “What the deuce for?” he demanded.
“To bring buyers for Mattison’s stock into the market,” said Joe. “We can’t continue to sell the stock short if there are no buyers. The thing was beginning to stagnate.”
“But we got all our publicity on that new machine. . . .”
“What of it?” said Joe. “They can’t take it away from us now. A new invention is news, but the failure of a new invention isn’t news. We’ll tap new sources of publicity.”
“But suppose I gave the order to sell, and Mattison’s stock still rises on Monday?” said Gillett.