The San Francisco call., 1908-10-18

"And you think it will affect the
price of the stock?"
1T is bound to, temporarily, at least.
And coming upon the heels of today s
sudden tumble"
Whats that?" demanded Ford, dry
Tipped, adding: II haven't seen a paper
since morning..
Kenneth wagged his head gloomily.
It's pretty bad P. S-W. closed at
33-five points off yesterdays market"
Good Lordi' Ford's groan was that
of a man smitten down in the heat of
the fight Say, Kenneth. within a
single sweep of the clock hands 1 have
contracted for more than a million dol
lars worth of material for the west
ern extension-more than million dol
lars WORTH
We'll, I'm afraid you have sinned
in haste to repent at leisure said
the lawyer, with a weary mans disre-
gard for the amenities. Then he added:
I'm going to bed. I've had about all
l can stand for one day"
Ford went to the room clerk for his
key; reeled would be the better word
since his brain was whirling. There
was a telegram in his box. and he tore
it open with fresh and sharper mis-
givings. 1t was from Adair.
The sick mans getting sicker What is the
matter with your prescription? Stock gone off
5 points, and the bears squeezing us to
beat the band. Stories flying on the street that
we are a kite without an effective tail; that the
courts will keep us out of the elevators. What
do you sayf
Ford consulted his watch There
was barely time to catch the midnight
train for New York, and his determina-
ton was taken on the spur of the mo-
ment 1t was all or nothing, now.
Hastily writing a wire to the cashier
of the Denver bank where he kept his
personal account, and another to Adair,
and leaving brief notes for Kenneth
and Truitt, he took a cab and had him
self driven at a gallop to the Union
station. He was the last man through
the platform gates, but he made his
train, and was settling himself in the
sleeper when another telegram was
thrust into his hand. This was from
Frisbie, at Saints Rest; and that it
brought more bad news might be
argued from the way in which he
crushed it slowly in his hand and
jammed it into his pocket. On this
day. if ever before he was proving the
truth of the old adage that misfor-
tunes do not come sing1y.
Upon arriving in New York late the
following evening he had himself
driven to the Waldorf, where he found
Adair waiting for him. A few words
sufficed to outline the situation, which
the lapse of another day had made still
more desperate. So far from recover
ing the falling stock had dropped to
291a and there was every indication
that the bottom was not yet reached
How do you account for it?" asked
Ford, when the dismal tale had been
told.
"Oh, it's easy enough when you know
how" was the light hearted rejoinder
"As I wired you. there was something
of a scramble on the floor of the ex-
change last week when we were fight
ing to find out whether we should con-
troll our own majority or let the Trans
continental have it. Our pool got its
81 per cent all right, but in the nature
of things the enemy stood as the next
largest stock holder in p. S.-W., since
they'd been buying right and left
against us. Now, since we don't need
any more and nobody else wants it,
all the Transcontinental people have to
do is to unload on the market, and
down she goes"
Ford looked incredulous. and then
wrathful.
"Adair, tell me: did have to stop
my work when my time is worth
$50 a minute and come all the
way to New York to tell you folks
what to do?" he demanded
Adair's laugh was utterly and abso-
lutely care free.
1T looks that way. doesn't it? Have
you got the compelling club up your
sleeve. as usual?"
"A boy might carry it-and swing
it, too" was the disgusted answer.