San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-08-08


with him for ten years, sent him east
with fortune. that he has trebled since
in Wall street, and now, by heaven! the
cold blooded brute will not lend him
pitiful twenty thousand"
AT the bank Lane found an unusual
number of men, and there was an air Of
suppressed excitement. Telegraph boys
would rush in every now and then with
dispatches for various parties, and these
we're eagerly opened and read. Scraps of
low, earnest conversation reached him, as
he stood silent watcher. They cannot
stand it another day" "They've been
raining wheat on them from every cor
ner of the north and west No gang can
stand under it." ''It's bound to break"
etc. To an official of the bank who knew
him well he showed the telegram he had
received at the club, and the gentleman
looked up in surprise.
do you want this now, captain?
Surely you are not
mo, I'm not, most emphatically, re-
piled Lane, with. "A quiet laugh. "Yet
may have sudden use for that sum- /
telegraphed to my agents at Cheyenne
yesterday. You, perhaps, ought to wire
at once and verify it"
"Those are our bank rules, and pre-
sumo it win be done; though of course
we know
'Never mind. l much prefer you
should, and at once" And, leaving the
man of business to attend to the neces-
sary formality, Lane strolled to win
dow and looked down the crowded street
towards the massive building in which
the desperate grapple 'twixt bull and
bear was at its height. The day was hot;
men .rushed by, hopping their fevered
brows; throng of people had gathered
near the broad entrance to the cham
Der, and all its windows We're low
cred to secure free and fresh currents Of
air. Lane fancied he could hear the
shouts of the combatants in the pit even
above the ceaseless roar and rattle of
wheels upon the stone pavement. Little
by little the minute hand was stealing to !,
the vertical, and still no sign from Clark \
Has she touched half YETI" he heard !
one man eagerly ask another as They'll
dived into the brokers' Office underneath. 4
Not yet; but I'm betting she does in
side of five minutes and reaches ninety
nine first thing tomorrow.
At last boom went the great bell-aS
single, solemn stroke. There was rush i
of men for the street, general scurry 4
towards the great board of trade build
ing, rapidly increasing crowd alongY
the curbstones as the members camel
pouring out, and brokers and their cus-
toners hurried away towards numberless
little offices all over the neighborhood.
Dozens of them passed along under his
post of observation, some flushed, some
deathly pale, and finally Clark himself
appeared and Lane fastened forth toY
meet him.
'Saved by mere squeak so far" was
the almost breathless whisper as Clark
removed his hat and wiped his clammyI
forehead. But we know not what a
day may bring forth. It's a mere res
pite."
Can the syndicate carry any more5
weight, think you? Prices jumped upI
two and three weeks ago. Now they only
climb hairs breadth at time. hear
they are loaded downfall it must
break; but I'm no expert in these mat
ters."
eff you were, you'd be wise to keep
out of it. Who can say whether they
will break or not? 1t is what everybody
confidently predicted when eighty-nine1
was touched twelve days ago; and look
at i'll"
"Do you go back to the Office from
here? Good! I'll join You there in ten
minutes" said Lane, ''for | shall mott
come down town this afternoon, and
may not be able to in the morning"
And when Capt. Lane appeared at theI
Office of Vincent, Clark & Co., hea
brought with him stout little packet,
which, after the exchange of few words
and a scrap or two of paper, Mr.. Clark
carefully slowed in the innermost conf
partment of the big safe. Then he grasp
ed Lanes hand in both of his as the cap-y
tain said good-by.
That afternoon, quite late, the captainI
rang at the Vincent's door, and it was al
most instantly opened by the smilingI
Abigail, whom he so longed to reward fol
her evident sympathy the day before. yet
lacked the courage to proffer green
back Lane was indeed little versed inI
the ways of the world, howsoever well
he might be informed in his profession.
Miss Vincent is in the library, sir, if
you will please to walk that way" wasI
her brief communication; and the cap-I
tain trembling desDite his hest efforts fol