This was the state of things at Aldersbury, as summer passed into autumn. Men still added up their investments, and reckoned the amount of their fortunes and chuckled over what they had made, and added to the sum what they were sure of making, when the shares of this mine or that canal company rose another five or ten points. Their wealth on paper was still, to them, solid, abiding wealth, to be garnered and laid by and enjoyed when it pleased them. And trade seemed still to flourish, though not quite so briskly. There was still a demand for goods though not quite so urgent a demand—and the price stuck a little. The railway shares still stood at the high premium to which they had risen, though for the moment they did not seem to be inclined to go higher.
But about the end of September—perhaps some one in London or Birmingham or Liverpool had twitched the filament which connected it with Aldersbury—Ovington called Arthur back as he was leaving the parlor at the close of the day’s business. “Wait a moment,” he said, “I want you. I have been thinking things over, lad, and I am not quite comfortable about them.”
“Is it Wolley?” Wolley’s case had been before them that morning and sharp things had been said about his trading methods.
“No, it’s not Wolley.” Having got so far Ovington paused, and Arthur noticed that his face was grave. “No, though Wolley is a part of it. I am always uneasy about him. But——”
“What is it, sir?”
“It is the general situation, lad. I don’t like it. I’ve an impression that things have gone farther than they should. There is an amount of inflation that, if things go smoothly, will be gradually reduced and no harm done. But we have a large sum of money out”—he touched the pile of papers before him—“and I should like to see it lessened. I hardly know why, but I do not feel that the position is healthy.”
“But our money is well covered.”
“As things are.”
“And we are as solvent, sir, as——”
“As need be, with the ordinary time to meet the calls that may be made upon us. But in the event of a sudden fall, of one big failure leading to another—in the event of a sudden rush to present our notes?”