The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1905-05-31

dce, and Frank Mason was studying
hard again. Small fortunes were be-
ing won and. lost on State street., and
In one smoke polluted brokers' Office
Nicholas Frye sat watching the price
of wheat. The September option
lopened that day at TSN, rose to 10,
fell to 76%, rose to 70 and then
dropped back to 70. He had margined
his holdings to II. and II 1t fell to that
price hts 100000 would be gone and he
ruined. For many nights he had had
but little sleep, and that made hideous
by dreams filled with the uncehsing
wh!r and click. click, click of the
ticker. He was worn and weary with
the ioAy nervous strain and misery Of
by the cl!cker's tick that had come to
sound like the teeth Of 30 many little
devils swapping at him. To let his
holdings go, he could not, and, lured
oil and on by the brokers' daily uttered
assertion that wheat could not go
much lower, but must have a rally
soon," he had kept putting up margins.
Now all he could possibly raise was In
the brokers' hands, and when hat was
gone all was lost.
Frye sat and watched the blackboard
where the uneven columns OF quota
lions looked like 30 many little legs
YER growing longer. Around him
were II score Of other men watching
the figures. No one cared whether an
other won or lost In the great gam
bling game that ruins thousands.
1t was the caldron filed with lies.
false reports, fictitious sales an6 the
hope and lust Of gain that boiled and
bubbled, heated by the fires of hell.
Aud eve around that caldron the souls
OF men were circling, cursing their
losses and gloating over their gains.
And Frye wal muttcring curses.
So fast came the quotations that the
boy could no longer record them. In
stead he called them out in Il drawing
singsong:
September wheat now seventy
three-thc Observation-Disclosures half
fivc-eighths split-now II half-three-
eighths "A quarter sevcnty-thrce!'
Frye set his feet hard together and
clinched his hands. Only 2 cents in
price stood between him and the loss
of all his twenty years saving. All
the lies he had told for miserable gain,
oil the miserly self denial he had prac.
ticed, all the clients he had cheated
and robbed, all the hatred he had won
from others, awaited him not. His con
temptible soul and his life almost now
hung by n misery 2 cents.
"Seventy-three-a Quarter-nn eighth
-scvcnty-three-now seventy-two sew
-thrce-Quarters spllt-now fve-eighths
IA hnlf-R half!"
Pandcmonium was raging In the Chi
cago wheat pit, and the ticker's teeth
clicked like mad.
"Sevcnty-two--a half-a half-thrce-
ter-scvcnty-two"
Cold beads Of sweat gathered on
Frye's forehead. One cent more and
he was ruined.
September wheat now sevcnty-one
seven-eighths - seven elghths - three
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES split-now the
Observation-Disclosures half a
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. half-a half again
-three-eighths-a Quarter-an eighth
n Quarter-an eighth-a Quarter-an
eighth-an eighth-a quarter split-an
eighth
"Seventy-one!"
Frye was ruined.
He ave one low moan, the first and
only one durlng those three long weeks
Of agony.
The devils teeth kept swapping; the
endless coils Of tape kept unwinding.
The boy continued his drawl, but Frye
paid no heed. Only those spider legs
on thn \y-nn loQtNn1 Et,l.I,n Of hin, nnI
that fatal seventy
ringing In his cars. He arose and
staggered out and with bowed head
made his way to the office.
Whir-r-rr-ri
Click, click, click!
Seventy-one-one-o 1t was the
last he heard, and then he sank for
ward ON his desk in T. stupor.
AT this moment Uncle Terry, with
Frye's letter In his pocket and right
cous wratli in his heart, was speeding
toward Boston as fast as steam could
carry him.
The clear, i~ncislve strokes OF an ad-
tacent clock prOclnimlng midnight
awokc Frye. lie raised his head, arose,
lit the two gas jets and sat down.
Seventy-one-one-one!
They brought 1t all back to him, and
now. alone In his misery, he groaned
aloud. and with his despair came the
dread Of the morrow, when he must go
forth crushed, broken, despairing, pen
niless.
All would know II, and all would re-
toice. Out OF the many that hated or
feared him not one would feel n grain
of pity, and he knew 1t.
Then his past life came back to him.
He had never married, and since he
had looked down upon his dead moth
er's face no woman's hand had sought
his with tenderness. All his long life Of
grasping greed had been spent In money
getting and money saving. No sense
Of right or Justice had ever restrained
him. Year after year he had added to
his hoard, carefully invested 1t, and
now 1t had all been swept away!
He took a pen and wrote n brief let
ter. Then lie went to his tall safe,
opened both doors and, taking q small,
fiat packet from an inner tin, returned
to his desk, placed hat and the letter
In one long envelope and sealed and di-
rected 1t.
Once more his head sank forward on
the desk, and he groaned aloud. For
q long time he remained thus, living
over the past three weeks of agony.