Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1905-06-22

mon was quoted at II. Then A. wat,
kins transferred $500 of his money
from the savings department of the
bank and opened up a checking &C.
count against it. At the same time
he gave q certain broker an open or
der to buy 20 shares of F., l.. & b
common at Is. A week later he had
dizzy spell when he opened his paper
and saw the the stock quoted at the
figure he had named. Later in the
day he was Informed by Bloodgood,
Ketchum & Co. that they had bought
for his account 20 shares of F., L. &
B. common. &
He sat and thought of Miriam Ives
and dreamed dreams and built air
castles, and wrote out an open order
to sell his 20 shares at 80, but put 1t
in his pocket not wishing to let his
brokers get the impression that he
had gone in for the mere purpose Of
"skinning the market" He expected
to see the stock hover around Is for
a 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 Mir
lam could be looking around for q
fiat.
A week later F., L. 4 B. common
was quoted at II, and there were ru.
mors of a reorganization which might
result in the wiping out of the COM
mon stock altogether. Archibald Wat
Eins began to have sinking spells, and
10 fell into the habit of breaking en-.
gagements 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 reaction.
BY the middle of August the stock was
quoted at six and one-half, and the
young man who had figured out profits
of about $s,000,000 for himself in Is
years was convinced that the broker
who had referred to F., l.. & B. COM
mon as "a nice old lady" had been
mistaken.
He quarreled with Miriam because
she thought he was foolish for not
saving what. little he could from the
wreck.
''It's bound to turn" he assured her.
"Confound them, I'll show them that
they can't freeze me out. I'll prove to
them that I have as much nerve as
any of them"
DIT
it would have been," she answered,
If you had taken my advice and kept
the money to furnish the fiat"
That made him angry. It was the
kind of talk he had always heard from
his mother when she was alive. It
had always been, Archibald. If you
had only listened to mel"
So he rushed away from Miriam,
bitterly saying:
when I get $50 a share for my
stock I'll come back"
On the following day It went down
with a sickening "plop" to three and
one-fourth, at which figure Archibald
Watkins sold out. Deducting the com.
missions, there was left for him about
$40 out of the $500 which he had paid
as his tuition fee.
The next morning he noticed that
the reaction had begun, and in four
weeks F., l.. & B. common was selling
around Is. When it touched 80 again,
A. Watkins sat and studied the fig.
ures long and earnestly. Also he re-
read note which he had received
that morning from Miriam Ives.
Dearest Archibald (she wrote), see
now that you really did know what
you were talking about. Forgive me
for the doubts I expressed concerning
your wisdom. Be sure to come this
evening. I am so anxious to tell you
how much admire you for your cour'
age and for your shrewdness. I have
just heard of the dearest fiat. And I
am dying to congratulate you on your
-or-may I, dear, say "our" success!
Yours impatiently, Miriam.
WELL" he said at last, pulling .
long sigh and letting the note drop
from his fingers, I'm a goat If I'd
have believed before it happened that
they'd go to so much trouble to get
the money I put into it. Chicago
Record-Herald.