“Oh, well, so far as that goes,” said the junior partner airily, “I might be equally justified in saying that an official like yourself, holding an important position on the Rockervelt staff, would have been much more likely to get the straight tip than we.”
“Oh, I got a tip all right enough,” replied John, grimly, “but it seems to have been a crooked rather than a straight one.”
“Ah, well,” said the broker, with the easy nonchalance of one whose withers are unwrung, “these mistakes happen now and then. The outlook in New York this morning is very-gloomy. Of course things may rally before noon, but we can’t count on that. I was going to telegraph you that we must have margin put up; not less than twenty-one thousand dollars, and even that will only give you three points lee-way when your present margin is absorbed.”
“Do you think twenty-one thousand would save me?”
“Who can tell?” answered the junior partner with a shrug of his shoulders. “It all depends. If you can inform me what Mr. Rockervelt will do during the next two hours, I can predict what will happen with the stock. I expected he would support it, but apparently he is letting it go smash.”
“Why shouldn’t he? He is the cause of it all,” said John. “I know the road earned a dividend, even if Rockervelt didn’t declare one.”
“Well, there you are,” said the broker. “The public always loses its head at a time like this. Rockervelt stocks are now away below their intrinsic value, but that fact won’t prevent their going lower if the panic continues.”
“What would you advise me to do?” asked Steele.
“I don’t give advice; I take instructions. We’ll hang on just as long as we can, but if the decline continues, we must sell your block before it gets below the margin.”
“I hold three times twenty-one thousand, face value in Northern Pacific Stock. Can you tell me if there is any chance of raising twenty-one thousand dollars on it?”