The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1908-10-30
CHAPTER XIX.
A Deal In Stocks,

ment out Of the smoky frame of the
Chinese den, was still haunting me as
| forced myself once more to return
to the Office. Wednesday morning had
come, and l was due to meet Dodd.
ridge Knapp. But as | unlocked the
door, / took some comfort In the
reflection that I could hardly be more
unwilling to meet the Wolf than he
must be to meet me.
/ had scarcely settled myself in my
chair when | heard the key turn In
the lock. The door swung open, and
in walked Doddridge Knapp.
/ had thought to find at least some
trace of the opium debauch through
which I had gained the clew to his
strange and contradictory acts. But
the face before me was a mask that
showed no sign of the experiences
through which he had passed. For
all that appeared, he might have en-
ployed the time since | had left here
two days before in studying philoso-
ply and c%ultivating peace and good.
will with his neighbors.
All, Wilton" he said, affably, rub.
bling his hands with a purring growl.
You're ready for a hard days work,
l hope"
Nothing would please me better"
l said ch%eerfully, my ~repugnance
melting away with the magnetism Of
his presence. us the black flag up to-
day."
He looked at me in surprise for an
instant, and then growled, still In
good humor:
"'No quarter is the motto to-day"
And l listened closely as the King Of
the Street gave his orders for the
morning.
you understand now" he said at
the end of his orders, that you are
to sell all the Crown Diamond that
the market will take, and buy all
the Omega that you can get below one
hundred"
81 understand"
We'll feed Decker about as big
a dose as he can swallow, I reckon
said the King of the Street, grimly.
"One thing" I said, I'D like to
know II I'm the only one operating
for you"
The King of the Street drew his
bushy brows down over his eyes and
scowled at me a moment.
You're the only one in the biz
board" he said at last. There are
men in the other boards, you under
stand"
thought l understood, and sailed
forth for the battle. At Doddridgt
Knapp's suggestion I arranged to d.
my business through three brokers
and added Lattimer and Hobart tt
Wallbridge, and Bockstein and Ed
ner.
Bockstein greeted me affably:
WELCOME to de marget vonce more
Mr.. -, Mr.. -"
Wilton" said Eppner. assisting hi
partner in his high, dry voice, will
cold civility. His blue-black eyes re
garded me az but a necessary part o
the machinery of commerce.
l gave my orders briefly.
Dot is a larch order" said Book
stein obviously.
1ou " AaNC W tame II, Wd
about to retort, when Eppner's high
pitched voice interrupted:
Its all right. The customary mar
gin is enough"
Wallbridge was more enthusiastic.
you've come Just in the nick o
time" said the stout little man, swat
bling his bald head from force O
habit, though the morning was chill
1.-THE market has been drier than
fsh-horn and duller than a fogg
morning"
Lattimer and Hobart. after a polit
explanation of their rules in regar,
to margins, and getting a c~ertifie'
check, became ~obseQuiously anxiou
to do my bidding.
l distributed the business with sue
judgment that l felt pretty sure GU
plans could not In any way be e1
posed. and took my place at the RAJ
in the board room.
The opening proceedings were con
paratively tame. l detected a sa
f%alling-off in the quality and quantit
of lung power and muscular activit
among the buyers and sellers in tn
pit.
At the call Of Confidence, Lattime
and Hobart began feeding shares {
the market. Confidence dropped fv
points in half a minute, and the p
began to wake up.
There was a roar and a growl this
. showed me the animals were sti
alive.
The Decker forces were taken b
!. surprise, but with a hasty consultatio
came calamity to the rescue Of the
, stock. At the close Of the call the
had forced it back and one point hisl
, er than at the opening.
This, however. was but a skirmil
of outposts. The fighting began
the call of Crown and Diamond.
It opened at So. The first bid W,
hardly made when with a below Wa
bridge charged on Decker's broke