“Did you own any coppers?” he inquired, with a tone and look that indicated the sympathy he felt for me.
“None of any consequence,” I replied.
I dared not talk with him about the matter lest I should expose my emotion. With the stunning intelligence he had communicated to me on my mind, it was simply impossible for me to discharge my duties in the bank. I could hardly tell a hundred-dollar bill from a thousand. I told the cashier that I was sick, and was fearful that I should faint again if I did not get out in the air. He took my place, and I staggered out into the street. There were people on the sidewalk, but I could not see them. Every thing seemed to be without form or shape. I was in a fearful agony of mind, and dreaded lest I should drop senseless upon the pavement.
I went into a saloon and drank a glass of brandy. I sat down at one of the little tables to gather up my shattered senses. Ruin stared me in the face. If Ballyhacks had fallen from eighty to fifty, what hope could there be for Bustumups? After all, the mischief might be confined to this particular stock, and mine might be still on the top of the wave. The brandy I had drank seemed to have no effect upon me. I took another glass, and my courage began to rise a little. The saloon was nearly filled with people, and there was a confused jabber of tongues all around me. Men spoke to me, and called me by name. I replied mechanically, but I could not have told a minute later who had spoken to me.
“But they are a fraud,” said a gentleman, seating himself at the table next to mine.
“Certainly they are,” replied the other. “The Ballyhack mine has produced some copper; but they say there is not a particle of metal on the Bustumup track—not an ounce! The managers of this affair ought to be indicted and sent to the State Prison.”
“Merciful Heavens!” I ejaculated to myself, “I am ruined!”
“Ballyhack has gone down to forty within half an hour,” added one of the gentlemen.
“I heard a man offer Bustumups just now for twenty, and people laughed at him,” added the other. “I don’t believe they will bring ten.”
“Probably not. There is not a dollar of value in them. The thing is an unmitigated swindle.”