"Possibly, but if Gunther can buy it at 40 or 35, why should he pay 55 to me?"
"I think he likes you, Dan," said Haggerdy slowly.
"No. He wants to make sure of getting the stock. He doesn't want a scramble for it," said Drake. "I'm surprised to hear you talking such nonsense."
Haggerdy rose, shaking his head impressively.
"A mistake, Dan—a mistake." He waited a moment and then played his last card. "Of course, if you sell out in this, it's understood Gunther'll see you through on the rest. And that may mean the question of the roof over your head."
"That means credit at the bank—that I'll be allowed to put up good collateral like a respectable member of the crowd?"
"Phrase it as you will, that's it. Gunther will buy out your Trust Company holdings for what you paid for them and he'll see you through on Indiana Smelters—that means something saved out of the wreck—and, Dan, there's a big smash up just over the horizon."
"I thought that was the proposition," said Drake, ruminating. "Well, Jim, it's more than ever no."
"Why more than ever?"
"Because this in good old-fashioned English means just one thing—getting out, saving my skin at the expense of others."