“When you say cleared, I suppose you mean that I’m entirely wiped out, but you got from under without loss.”
“I don’t know a better way of putting it than that,” replied the broker.
“I didn’t think there was a man in town with ready money enough to make such a purchase to-day. I wish I had managed to encounter him. Perhaps I might have detached twenty-one thousand dollars from him.”
“It is very likely, for he is a friend of yours, and from your own office. He said there was no secret about it; so I may as well tell you the purchaser is Mr. Blair, general manager of the Midland.”
“Oh, he’s back from New York, is he?”
“Yes, he returned this morning; haven’t you seen him? Haven’t you been at your office at all today?”
“No, I’ve been calling on friends and acquaintances. I suppose the stock is going up now?”
“Well, such a large purchase had first the effect of putting the brakes on its downhill course, and now it has recovered two points. Then the news from New York is encouraging. It seems that the Rockervelt forces, both in New York and Chicago, are buying all that is offered. You see, Mr. Rockervelt himself left for the West just before the scare, and I imagine he didn’t realise how serious it was.”
“Quite so. I heard he had gone West. Pity there are no telegraph wires to the West, isn’t it?”
The broker laughed.