Better days; or, A Millionaire of To-morrow

by Thomas Fitch; Anna M. Fitch

At the time of the great deal in Harlem, so successfully engineered before the war by Commodore Vanderbilt, Gray was still occupying his place as messenger. He overheard a conversation held in the commodore’s private office between that gentleman and his confidential clerk, and, comprehending the magnitude of the opportunity, he directed that all his resources, which then amounted to nearly $200,000, be placed in Harlem stock. He was enabled, under the system of margins which prevailed in Wall Street, to purchase $2,000,000 worth of the stock, which he sold at an average advance of fifty per cent, clearing $1,000,000 by the operation.

The old commodore, who had himself made $6,000,000 by the deal, found that somebody had been sharing profits with him to the extent of $1,000,000, and, not supposing that this was the result of guesswork, he used means to discover who was the cunning operator and what were the sources of his information. Without much difficulty he traced the transactions to John Gray, and, remembering the presence of that young man in the anteroom at the time of giving directions to his confidential clerk, he was not at a loss to determine how it came about.

The commodore considered that Gray had gained $1,000,000 which should have come to his own coffers, and he determined to “give the young fellow a lesson, sir,” as he said to his confidential clerk. That morning Gray’s employer received—to his great surprise—a call from Vanderbilt, who, to his greater surprise, informed him of the true status of his messenger, who had become a millionaire. Gray’s employer readily promised to assist in the scheme which Vanderbilt formed for punishing Gray and “stripping him of his ill-gotten gains, sir.” Vanderbilt required only that Gray’s employer should next day send Gray to Vanderbilt’s office, with a verbal message, inquiring, “What is to be done about Erie?”

The next day Gray called and delivered his message to the commodore in his private office.

“Take a seat, young man, until I can write a reply,” was the direction, and Gray deferentially seated himself upon the edge of a chair, and gazed at the carpet stolidly, while the commodore penned the following: “Buy all the Erie offered at market rates up to fifty-three. C. V.” This note the commodore placed in an envelope, which he directed, but apparently forgot to seal, and handed it to Gray, who thereupon departed. As the door closed behind the messenger, the veteran bull smote himself upon the sides, and threw his head back and laughed.

Gray noticed that the envelope was not sealed, and before he reached the bottom of the stairs, he possessed himself of its contents.

Then he fell into a train of thought. Erie was selling at $37, and Gray was thoroughly posted as to the resources, liabilities, and business of the road, and knew very nearly who were the principal stockholders. He knew that the commodore held fully one-third of the capital stock of Erie, which had cost him not more than $30 a share, and he also knew that the old gentleman had been for some time selling his stock at $37 as fast as he could do so without breaking the market. Thirty-seven was really a nursed price for the stock; it was more than the condition and prospects of the road warranted, and Gray did not believe that Vanderbilt intended to purchase any great quantity, even at $37, or that it would be possible for him to run the stock to $53 without purchasing the entire amount.

Gray delivered the note to his employer, and asked that gentleman if he might be excused for half an hour to attend to some matters of business of his own. Leave of absence was graciously granted, and Gray was watched to the door of the office of the broker who had bought and sold his Harlem stock. Then Gray’s employer walked to the office of the expectant commodore and informed him that the young man had swallowed the bait, for he had gone to the office of his broker, probably to order large purchases of Erie.

Vanderbilt thanked the broker, assured him that in the division of the spoils he should not be forgotten, and authorized him in furtherance of their project to purchase all the Erie offered up to $42, to which figure Vanderbilt proposed to run the stock before letting it drop.

Gray directed his broker to purchase Erie in one-hundred-share lots, beginning at $37, and to follow the market up to $53 if it reached that figure, but not to purchase more than five thousand shares in all. Having given this direction, he walked into the back office of a firm of brokers, who, although leaders in the market, had never succeeded in obtaining any business from Vanderbilt, and between them and that gentleman there was a business feud of long standing. The quiet messenger was well known to the head of the firm, who greeted him pleasantly.