Daily Kennebec journal., 1895-07-08
HIS ONLY VACATION.
THE VETERAN SPECTATOR WAS RE.
MINDED OF 1T BY A REMARK.

Emotiors-Did the Woman Know?
! Perhaps II l was devoid of human emo
tions, y growled the young speculator, q
might be rs cool as you are.
The veteran pulled in silence for awhile
Then he said:
You remind me of the only vacation ]
have taken in ten years.
He puffed again and allowed the smoke
TO ascend his nostrils, while the Others
waited cxpectantly.
Il had been overpersuaded. he said,
''by some very dear friends to Join them
IN yachting party. They had an idea
that my nervous system was breaking
DOWN
His listeners interrupted with gufaw,
and he smiled with quiet enjoyment.
Tho collapse OF adamant, " murmured
the Junior partner.
And added the veteran, "they almost
made mo believe so. Anyhow | was under
the weather-digcstion, | guess-and, as
the market was very steady and my in
vestment seemed to be perfectly secure,
they got me away on their boat. For a
whole week we were at sea, with no great
er cxcitcmcnt than an occasional five dol
lar limit game. Then we put in at a big
resort on the coast
Again he puffed away in silence for
some moments. When he went on he spoke
more slowly:
Il have often thought that if we had re-
maincd away another day or two my whole
life would have been changed. Mrs John
son, the wife of my host, had invited a
very charming young lady-in fact, the
sweetest woman it has been my fortune to
mcet-and l must admit that her influence
on me was very great, in spite of our
young friends cynical Judgment of me. /
won't attempt to describe hor, gentlemen,
but had not been without experience in
the world, and l believe you will give ne
credit for not being easily smittcn. / GER
tainly was in bad way, and had gone
to bed the night before we landed with the
determination to play my trump card in
the morning, and, if it won her, to sell
out and quit tho street for good. ] rarely
make decision of such solemn nature,
for life is too short for man like me to
be very serious, but when l do never
break it. am too good q gambler to fly in
the face of fate.
when l walked down the gangplank
that morning with her at my side l was
resolved to settle matters before we went
back to the yacht. We strollcd along the
beach, with the rest of the party not far
behind, and l began the game with her
l won't weary you with q description of
the way the hands were played, but she
was very bright woman, and it was not
easy to reach q sentimental climax with
her. / was doing very well, however,
when johnson called out to me to step I'D
to one of the hotels with him.
guess you'll want to see tho ticker
he said slyly. Jones s; Co. have branch
office here, and the ladies will enjoy
walk on the piazza while we are looking
at the quotations
81 could have cursed johnson with
great pleasure for the untimely intcrrup-
ton, but to refuse meant possible bctray-
al of my purpose and SO | acquicsced
Oh, can | not go with YOU? asked my
lovely friend. i have always wanted to
know how you men do business in Wall
street, and perhaps you will be kind
enough to explain it to me-
"Of course / assented gladly, and she
went into the office with u.s. Before look
ing at the tape gave her a general de-
5cription of how the ticker worked. while
Johnson was talking with the manager of
the office. In the midst of my explanation
happened to glance at johnson and no
Iiced that he had turned very pale He was
quite agitated While l was wondering
what was up he rushed over to the ticker
and caught hold of the tape. He had hard
y glanced at it before it slipped through
his fingers, and it was all that he could do,
he usually kept a stiff upper lip,
20 avoid making a scene. OF course that
prepared me for something unusual, and
perhaps it was that that saved me when l
picked up the tape
'Therc had been terrible slump in the |
market the day before, and us l looked Mt
5hc quotations l saw that / was goner.
AN remember the scene as though it was
before my eyes. / had taken the very stock
n which was interested to illustrate my
EXPLANATION to my companion, and con-
inucd to Gsc il as showed her the tape.
There, said |, 'yOu see the quotation
vas 106 whcr we loft New York. IF q man
rad 5000 shares of that on n margin Of
20 per cont had to put up pretty stiff |
margins in those days Gentlemen-'he
would now haze lost $50, 900, for you see
t is down 10 100, ard every point it goes
lown means the loss of So, 900 TO himr
she was quite excited. 'Oh, the poor
ellowr shn exclaimed. Isn't il tcrrfblc?' |
".IohnsCI told me aftcrward that | wore |
y pleasant a smile as he ever saw on my |
ace. The ticker moved again, and there |
vas my stock ut %. l looked at the clock, |
which gave New York time. It wanted |
i've minutes Of 3. In those five minutes |
he stock dropped two points more Then
he ticker stopped. The exchange was
loscd for the day, and was $40, 900 poor
+ than when had left the city My dream |
vas over. | was too poor now to indulge |
n sentimental fancics / don't suppose |
he ever understood the change in my be- |
layior toward her, but Johnson had been |
lit hard, too, and we excused ourselves
hat night and took the first train back to |
he city, while she remained with the |
'achting party. Perhaps Mrs. johnson
old her. Anyhow l have never seen her
incc, and only know that she is married
O dcvilish rich fellow, who isn't in the
treet
He pulled again, but his cigar was out.
The young speculator got up and put his
Iand gently on his shoulder,
I'm Gevilish sorry spoke" he said
Como Iatsr bavn n cold bottlo