The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-05-29
THE EVENING STOR r


&
less soon became as an open book 10
him. He could remember what G. J.
& F. closed at week ago last Tues
day, and If r. A & ". went up a point
I to advance before reaching the mark /
which some wise men had month be-
fore set for it.
There was one thing that interested /
him particularly. That was F. L. & |
/ 3. common He had once heard !
/ broker refer to it as "a nice old lady
For ten years, he learned, that stock !
/ had been fiuctuating between Is and !
! 80. Every summer it would drop to
/ the low water mark. Every winter it /
/ would regularly work itself back up
| to the high level.
Now, this young man, whose name, |
by the way, was watkins, had a sort
OF a head for figures, and one evening
after he had been thinking for long
time about Miriam Ives-a neat figure
she Was-he did some figuring on F.
l. & B. common.
"Supposing,' he said to himself.
| that I bought about $500 worth of
it at 10 and sold it at 80. That would
increase my working capital to $500.
Then on the next slump I could in
vest my $500 and sell out for 81, 200"
1t was simple proposition. All he
had to do was to be little patient
After the third turnover he would
] have $1,000; the fourth would see
him $4,000 to the good. On the fifth
swing of the pendulum he would have
/
3for commissions and other incidentals,
leaving 200 even money. His sixth
plunge would make him q winner to
the extent of $4,000, and after that
his wealth began to pile up very fast.
He would emerge from his seventh
transaction IN f., L. and B. common
with $36, 900; another go would in
crease his wealth to $4,000; in nine
years, figuring only on the turning
over of his money per annum he
would be worth $685. 600. He knock
, ed off $4,000 for general expenses.
making his start on the second ten
years with an even S250,000. Before
he got up to the fifteenth year Of his
career as a buyer and seller of F., L.
and B. common his head began to be
dizzy, and, putting his pencil in his
pocket, he went out to ask Miriam if
| she would be his wife.
Il want you to know" he said,
when she had permitted him to press
| her cheek against his chest and gather
one of her soft. warm hands in his.
that my love for you is not a selfish
love. If it was I'd have asked you
> long ago to be my own and let you
share with me the troubles on my in
, come. But I have waited and wor-
SHIPPED you in silence until could see
the way clear ahead"
Then he kissed her a few times
more and told her candidly what was
going to happen.
+ Archibald. she whispered, 81 don't
care for all these terrible riches.
Wealth is an awful responsibility
> nice fiat with it"
But he convinced here before he
, left that 1t would be almost criminal if
ne neglected to take advantage Of the
opportunity which was opening be-
fore him, and he continued to watch
the financial page. 1t was early sum-
mer F., L. and B. common was
steadily declining along with about
everything else on the list By the
middle of June it was at 20, and
Archibald Watkins would experience
a futtering sensation in the region of
the upper left pocket of his vest every
time he took up his paper in the
morning.
On the 18th of July F.. L. and B.
common was quoted at II. Then A
Watkins transferred $500 of his money
from the savings department of the
bank and opened I'D a checking ac-
count against it. At the same time
he gave a certain broker an open or
der to buy twenty shares of F., L. and
B. common at Is. A week later he
had a dizzy spell when he opened his
y paper and saw the stock quoted at the
}, figure he had named. Later in the
t day he was informed by Bloodgood,
S Ketchum & Co. that they had bought
for his account twenty shares of F., L.
[ and B. common.
n He sat and thought of Miriam Ives
and dreamed dreams and built air
t castles and wrote out an open order to
e in his pocket, not wishing to let his
d brokers get the impression that he
> had gone in for the mere purpose of
Il / ''skinning the market" He expected
Q to see the stock hover around Is for
{ month or so before starting on the
, upward swing, SO there was no need
of haste about putting In his selling
:, order. In the meantime he and
y Miriam could be looking around for a
$ A week later F.. L. and B. common
a ! was quoted at IL. and there were ru-
mors of a reorganization which
q might result in the wiping out OF the
common stock altogether Archibald
Watkins began to have sinking spells,
= and he fell into the habit of breaking
engagem ents with Miriam. Two or
three times he decided to sell out and
save what he could of his hard-earned
money, but he put it off from day to
day, hoping there might be a reactlon-
BY the middle of August the stock
t was quoted at s u, and the young man
who had figured out profits OF about
e sS0OO,0OO for himself in fifteen years
was convinced that the broker VINO
= had referred to F.. L. and 3. common
as "a nice old lady" had been mis-
He auarreIed with Miriam because
she thought he was foolish for not
= saving what little he could from the
otis bound to turn" he assured her.
'sConfound them, I'll show them that
they can't freeze me out III prove 20
them that I have as much nerve as
any of them"
sRut think how much more sensible
= it would have been,'' she answered, II
= you had taken my advice ana kept eAe
money to furnish the fat"
d That made him angry. It was the
e kind of talk he had always heard from
his mother when she was allve- y u I l77I
q always been. archibald, II you hao jill
: | " listened to meY' -
So he rushed away from Miriam. bit
o terly saying: -4,,,-
E when I get $50 a share for my stock
I'll come back"