The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-11-24
The. Schemes of Colonel CLAW
Continued from Page /

i need hardly eXpldHls II lut SidlS VI
the stock exchange for getting rid of
undesirable securities, 1t struck me
as probable that. in the event of the
invention turning out reality, Clote-
dorp AS might become unstable with
in the next few weeks or so.
He eyed ME sternly.
wentworth" he said you're a
fooli" Except on occasions when he is
very angry my respected connection
never calls me WENTWORTH" the IA
miliar Authorization "Sey"-derived
from Seymour-is his usual mode of
address to me in private, Us it likely l
would unload and wreck the confidence
of the public in the Cloetedorp cOmpa-
ny at such a moment? AS a director
as chairman-would it be just or right
of me? I ask you, sir, could l recon-
Gle it to my conseience?"
Charles" l answered, "you are
right. Your conduct is noble. You will
not save your personal interests at the
expense of those who have put their
trust III you. Such probity. is, alas!
very rare in finance" And L sighed
involutarily, for I had lost in Liber-
ators.
At the same time 1 thought to my
self: Il am not director. No trust is
Isabel and the baby. Before the crash
comes I will sell out tomorrow the few
shares 1 hold, through Charles kind
ness. in the Cloetedorp Golcondas."
With his marvellous business instinct
Charles seemed to divine my thoughts,
for he turned round to me sharply.
Look here, Sey," ne remarked, in
an aciOulOus tone, -'recOllect, you're
my brother-in-law. You are also my
secretary. The eyes of London will be
upon US tomorrow. If you were to sell
out, and operators got to know of it,
they'd suspect there was something
up, and the company would suffer for
ii. OF course, you can do what you
like with your own property. 1 can't
interfere with that. ! do not dictate to
you. But as chairman of the GOlcon-
das, I am bound to see that the inter
ests of widows and orphans whose all
is invested with me should not suffer
at this crisis His voice seemed to fall
ter. Therefore, though 1 don't like
TO threaten" ne went on, Il am bound
10 give you warning; if you sell out
those shares of yours, openly or Sc
cretly, you are no longer my secreta-
~; you receive forthwith six months
salary in lieu of notice, and you leave
me instantly
VERY well. Charles" / answered in
a submissive voice; though I debated
with myself for a moment whether it
would be best to stick TO the ready
money and quit the sinking ship, or
TO hold fast by my friend, and back
Charles luck against the professor
science. After short, sharp strug-
gle within my own mind, l am proud
to say friendship and gratitude won. l
felt sure that, whether diamonds went
up or down, Charles Vandrift was the
sort of man who would come to the
top in the end in spite of everything
And I decided to stand by him.
I slept little that night, however. My
mind was a whirlwind. At breakfast
Charles also looked haggard and
moody.
There was a block in Cheapside.
Charles, impatient and nervous,
jumped out and walked. I walked be-
side him. Near Wood street a man we
knew casually stopped us.
IT think / ought TO mention to you"
he said, confidentially, that I have it
Scheiermacher of jena
Thank you" Charles said, crustily,
Il know that tale, and-there's not a
word of truth in it,
He brushed on in haste. A yard or
two farther a broker paused in front
of us.
'Halloa, Sir Charles," he called out,
in a bantering tone. What's all this
about diamonds? Where are CIOete-
street %
Charles drew himself up very stiff.
Il fail to understand you" he an
swered, with dignity.
Why. you were there yourself" the
man cried Last night at Sir AdoI-
plus" Oh, yes, it's all over the place;
Schleiermacher of Jena has succeeded
in making the most perfect diamonds
for sixpence apiece-as good as real
A ft.fr - IL
less than six weeks Kimberley, they
say, will be a bowling desert Every
cOstermonger in Whitechapel will wear
genuine Kob-i-noors for buttons on
his coat; every girl in Bermondsey will
sport a riviere like Lady Vandrift's to
her favorite music hall. There's a
slump in GOlconda. Sly, sly, can see;
but we know all about it,"
Charles moved on, Disguised. The
mans manners were atrocious. Near
the bank we ran up against a most re-
spectacle jObber.
"Ah, Sir Charles" he said. you here?
Well, this is strange news, isn't it? For
my part, l advise you not to take it too
seriously. Your stock will go down, of
course, like lead this morning. But it'll
rise tomorrow, mark my words, and
f1uctuate every hour till the discOvery's
proved or disproved for certain. There
Is q nne time coming FOR operators.
feel sure. Reports this way and that
RumOrs. rumOrs. rumOrs And nobody
will know which way to believe till
Sir Adolphus has tested it,"
We moved on toward the house.
Black care was seated on Sir Charles
shoulders. As we drew nearer and
nearer everybody was discussing the
one fact of the moment. The seal of
secrecy had proved more potent than
publication on the housetOps. Some peo-
pie told us of the exciting news in con-
fldentiaI whispers; some proclaimed it
aloud in vulgar exultatiOn. The general
opinion was that Cloetedorps were
doomed and that the Sooner a man
cleared out the less was he likely to
lose by it,
Charles STROBE on like a general; but
it was Napoleon brazening out his re-
treat from Moscow. His mien was res
oiate. He disappeared at last into the
precincts of an office, waving me back,
not TO follow. After long consulta-
ton. he came out and rejoined me.
All day the city rang with "Golcon-
das. Golcondas." Everybody MUIR
INJURED, Slump. slump in Golcondas."
The brokers had more business to do
than they could manage; though to be
sure almost every one was a seller and