Middletown transcript., 1877-10-13

Il
profits and impossible losses which we
anticipated was then drawn up, and
my mere acquaintance gayly took his
leave, saying:
mark my predictionI Thornton &
Co. will corner the street yet"
/ I smiled at this, but 1 did not real
ize its absurdity so clearly as have
since. By far the most interesting
part Of the newspaper the next morn
| ing was the financial article, and !
| bought the first edition Of the EOe'aiog
Post to see the stock quotations. /
could not leave my desk during busi-
ness hours, but I dined with Thornton
and found him in q high state Of ex-
citement. He urged me to invest an
other thousand but I refused, though
greatly tempted by his representations.
The next night he made prOdigious
effort to look cool and unconcerned as
he laid before me package Of green
backs amounting to S1,750.
"There, said ne, T doubled Outbiei yoGzr. yoGzr.
thousand in two days, and I could
have done the same if it had been two
thousand or ten thousand. You might
have made 81, 800 as easy as $780,"
looked grave as reflected that
this was undoubtedly the fact.
"What have you done with your
| $250f" 1 inquired.
Bought Erie, of course. I'll treble
it, sure"
I Icross-questioned him closely, went
over the newspaper reports once more,
and then took my resolution. Calling
for pen and ink 1 filed up blank
check and said, handing him the pack
age Of greenbacks:
"Here is S1,75O in cash, and here is
check for $4,7OO. Go in and win. ]"
Thornton jumped up and grasped
my hand, exclaiming:
"You're man Of nerve! You de-
serve to be rich!"
"Well," said 1, "it depends a good
deal on you. See that you make no
mistake"
"Never fear" said he, you'll be
worth $4,000 before you know it"
After some further conversation we
parted, my occasional misgivings be-
ing speedily dispelled by delightful
visions Of sudden wealth.
You will see that I had put into
Thornton's hands the whole of my lit
tie inheritance together with two years
interest, which / had allowed to accu-
mulate, my salary for the last two
years having been amply sufficient for
my wants. I am satisfied that it would
have been lucky thing for me if
had lost every cent of it. But, as it
happened, Thornton's instinct was not
at fault, he sold out at just the right
moment, and I found myself as he had
predicted, worth $4,000, besides sew
eral odd hundreds with which / in
dulged in champagne, game suppers,
and some other expensive luxuries
which had hitherto entirely avoided.
I had selfcontrol enough to deposit
my money in bank, keep my secret,
and attend steadily to my regular
business. Thornton, too, kept his affairs
from his employers, but continued to
speculate with his share of the profits |
made off my capital, and with such
success that in q few months he was
worth as much as 1. My resolution to
be satisfied with what I had made, and
tempt fortune no more, gradually van
ished as l noted his continued prosper
ity, and when he came to me with
secret information Of a projected move
ment in leading stock, which promised
results Of the most fattering charac-
ter, and told me he had invested every |
cent he had in that stock, I readily |
agreed to do the same. At first every
thing went well. The stock. began to
rise slowly, and at one time we might
have made four or five thousand apiece
by selling, though neither of us thought |
Of that for moment. Then there came
lull, and then, without a moments
warning, the stock tumbled with such |
frightful rapidity that, before we re-
allied it, our little fortunes were swept |
away. Thornton made haste to sell,
but we found ourselves each $4,000 in
debt, and with no consolation except |
that some dozens of fellow-speculators
had been cleaned out in the same style |
as ourselves.
shall not soon forget our meeting
after this disaster. I could not re-
proaeh Thornton, for his losses were as
heavy as mine, and it was he who res
cued us from the dilemma of having
to pay $4,000 between US at once
without funds, or have our transactions
exposed to our respective employers.
81 have a friend" said he, "who
will shave our joint note for fair dis
count, and before it comes due, we
shall have time to get on our feet
again"
7 cannot saw liked the suoOeztion