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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Halsey & Co., by H. K. Shackleford
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Halsey & Co.
+       or, The Young Bankers and Speculators
+
+Author: H. K. Shackleford
+
+Release Date: June 29, 2007 [EBook #21963]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HALSEY & CO. ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Richard Halsey
+
+
+
+
+HALSEY & Co.;
+OR, THE YOUNG BANKERS AND SPECULATORS
+
+By H. K. SHACKLEFORD
+
+CHAPTER I.--"I'll Shoot!"
+
+Mr. Barron, the rich banker in Broad street, was seated at his desk in
+his private office one day when the door was opened by the porter, who
+said:
+
+"There's a newsboy out here who says he must see you, sir."
+
+"Go and tell him to let you know what he wants. If it's a situation,
+tell him we have none vacant."
+
+The porter went back to the outer office. In a minute or two the door
+opened again and the newsboy entered and closed the door behind him. The
+banker recognized him as the boy who had brought him the afternoon
+papers daily for a year back.
+
+"The bouncer told me to go away, sir," the boy said, doffing his hat as
+he spoke, "but I knew my business better than he does. There's a couple
+of men putting up a big job on your bank, and I knew if I didn't tell
+you about it they'd scoop you for a big pile."
+
+The banker wheeled his chair around so as to face the boy, and laid his
+gold glasses on the desk.
+
+"Who are they, and how did you find out about it?" he asked.
+
+"I don't know who they are, but I found it out by overhearing their
+talk."
+
+"What is their plan?"
+
+"A forged check."
+
+"Whose name is forged?"
+
+"I don't know, sir. They had a genuine check and were comparing it to
+the forged one. They said it was perfect and would be paid if presented
+when the cashier was busy."
+
+"Ah! I see. That means a little before three o'clock. Now, my boy, do
+you think you could point them out to a detective when they come up to
+the cashier's window?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Not afraid of them, eh?"
+
+"No, sir. I am not afraid of anybody."
+
+The banker smiled, reached over on his desk and tapped a small bell. The
+door opened and a messenger appeared.
+
+"Tell Caruth to come here," the banker said to him.
+
+The messenger disappeared, and a few moments later the bank detective
+came in.
+
+"Caruth," said the banker, "this boy tells me he overheard two men
+plotting to present a forged check to-day. Take him out there with you
+and arrest the man he points out to you. Let the man get the money,
+though, so as to make a good case against him."
+
+Caruth looked at the boy and said:
+
+"I know you by sight. What's your name?"
+
+"Fred Halsey."
+
+"Well, go along with him, Fred," the banker said to him. "It may be a
+bad business if you make a mistake."
+
+"Come on, Halsey," and the detective led the way out into the public
+hall of the bank.
+
+Fred followed him, and the two were soon in a crowd of people, who were
+coming and going all the time. Caruth took up a position near the
+cashier's window where he could see every man who stopped there. Fred
+stood by his side and closely scanned the faces of those who came and
+went.
+
+More than an hour passed, and still they stood there on the watch. The
+detective was used to it, but Fred had been more active, and he began to
+wish the men would come along. Suddenly he nudged Caruth with his
+elbow--nudged him good. Caruth leaned over till his face was on a level
+with Fred's.
+
+"That's him--the man in the gray ulster."
+
+Caruth looked up and saw a man in a gray ulster and with gold glasses
+on.
+
+"Do you see the other one?" he asked.
+
+"No, I don't see him."
+
+"Well, look for him. Sure you have the right man now?"
+
+"Yes. That's one of 'em."
+
+Caruth did not pretend to look at the man in the line. But he kept him
+in view all the time. The man finally got up to the window and presented
+a check. The cashier looked at the check and then at the endorsement. He
+gave the man a hasty glance and then began counting out a large sum of
+money, using bills of large denomination to expedite the counting. He
+handed out the money and the man gathered it up and was putting it into
+his pocket when Caruth laid a hand on his arm and said:
+
+"The president of the bank wants to see you in his private office a few
+moments."
+
+Suddenly, and without any warning, the stranger kicked Caruth's feet
+from under him, and he fell heavily on the tiled flooring, his head
+striking it so hard that he became instantly unconscious. The stranger
+made a break for the street entrance. Quick as a flash Fred Halsey
+sprang forward in front of him, darted between his legs, and caused him
+to fall forward on his face. The man was quick, though, and caught on
+his hands. He was on his feet again in an instant. Again Fred darted
+between his legs and threw him. This time he rolled completely over and
+Fred saw the handle of a revolver protruding from a hip pocket. He
+grabbed it, cocked it, and held the muzzle within a foot of the forger's
+head, saying:
+
+"I'll shoot!"
+
+The man lay still, glaring at the black muzzle of the weapon like one
+confronting a ghost. Mr. Barron heard the noise of the three falls, and
+rushed out of the office in time to see Fred aim the revolver at the
+head of the forger.
+
+"Arrest that man!" he cried. "He is a forger."
+
+A forger is the one criminal most hated in Wall Street, and as soon as
+it was announced that he was one, the stranger was instantly surrounded
+and captured. A policeman came in from the street and put the nippers on
+him.
+
+"Bring him into my office, officer," said the banker. "He has a lot of
+the bank's money in his possession."
+
+The officer took him to the president's room, and Fred followed, with
+the pistol still in his hand. He was searched, and the money found in
+his pocket. The cashier brought in the check and said he did not believe
+it was forged.
+
+"Send for Mr. Manson and see what he says about it," suggested the
+banker.
+
+Manson was a rich broker, whose name had been forged to the check. He
+was found at his office and came over to the bank immediately. Taking
+the check, which was for $10,000, he made a close examination of it.
+
+"I never gave that check to any one," he said. "It is a forgery, but
+such a good one that ordinarily I would not be able to detect it
+myself."
+
+"I took it in good faith," said the stranger. "Can you swear it was
+forged?"
+
+"Yes, for I have given out no check for that amount to-day."
+
+"The date is nothing. Is that your signature?"
+
+"It is very much like it, but I did not write it, nor did I ever give a
+check to any such party."
+
+"You will swear to that?" Barron asked him.
+
+"Yes--a thousand times."
+
+"Then I'll take the responsibility of the man's arrest and prosecution.
+You may take him away, officer."
+
+The policeman led his prisoner out, and a dozen prominent brokers got
+around Barron to congratulate him on the arrest. Barron looked around
+and saw Fred standing near the door, still holding the revolver in his
+hand.
+
+"Ah! There's the one to whom I am indebted for the arrest," and he went
+over to where Fred was standing, extended his hand to him, and added:
+
+"He not only came and gave me warning, but actually made the arrest
+himself. Caruth, our detective, was hurt, and the forger would have
+escaped but for this boy here," and he, wrung Fred's hand as he spoke.
+
+"That's so," remarked a broker, shaking Fred's hand. "I saw the whole
+business myself, but didn't know what it meant. Shake, my dear boy," and
+he gave him a hearty handshake. A half dozen others followed, and one
+said:
+
+"Here, let's set him up. We want to encourage boys like him," and he
+drew a ten-dollar bill from the inside pocket of his vest and laid it on
+the desk. "Cover that with as much as you please, gentlemen."
+
+Seven other laid down similar amounts, and Barton remarked;
+
+"Whatever you give, gentlemen, I'll double it."
+
+"Very good," said another, putting down a ten. "We'll all chip in."
+
+The sum of $130 was laid on the desk while Fred stood there looking on,
+with his heart way up in his throat.
+
+"Now, Fred Halsey," the banker said to the newsboy. "I am going to
+double this sum, giving you two hundred and sixty dollars. What are you
+going to do with so much money?"
+
+"Set up a bank of my own," was the prompt reply at which the banker and
+the brokers broke into a roar of laughter.
+
+"Gimme ten dollars," Fred said, "and keep the rest in the bank for me."
+
+"Very well; here's the ten," and Fred took the bill and went out on the
+street, feeling richer than ever before in his life.
+
+
+CHAPTER II.--Halsey & Company.
+
+Fred Halsey was a sturdy youth of sixteen whose father had died when he
+was but ten years old. He was a manly little fellow who knew how to take
+care of himself in his career of newsboy. He had laughing blue eyes and
+a handsome face, while his mouth showed that he possessed a dauntless
+spirit. His mother died long before his father did, and he and his
+little sister lived with an aunt--his mother's sister--who was a
+childless widow. She was a mother to him and Adah, who was two years
+younger than Fred, a pretty blue-eyed little miss with golden hair and
+pearly teeth.
+
+She did washing, and Fred sold papers, while Adah was a cash girl in one
+of the big stores on Grand street. Even then it was but a poor living
+for them in the great city, where grasping landlords demanded rent money
+with the regularity of the almanac. When Fred Halsey went out of the
+bank with ten dollars in his pocket and $250 more in the bank behind
+him, he had a feeling in his heart he never had there before. The whole
+world seemed opened to him. Rich bankers and brokers had shaken hands
+with him and praised him for what he had done.
+
+"And I'm rich now myself," he said to himself, as he darted up toward
+Broadway. "Whew! I'm rich! I'm rich!"
+
+"Hello, Fred!"
+
+"Hello, Bob! Where are you going?"
+
+"Up to the telegraph office."
+
+"I'm going that way, too," and he went along with Bob Newcombe, a
+messenger boy in Broker Manson's office, who was his chum and friend,
+and about the same age as himself.
+
+"Sold all your papers?" Bob asked.
+
+"Yes, all I am going to sell to-day,"
+
+"Made enough to stop on, eh?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+Bob laughed and remarked:
+
+"If I had a hundred dollars I could make three hundred in a week."
+
+Fred started.
+
+"How?" he asked.
+
+"Big deal going on in the Stock Exchange. Heard 'em fixing it up in the
+office this morning."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"Corner in B. & H."
+
+Fred had been selling papers in Wall Street long enough to be familiar
+with all the terms used by brokers and bankers. He knew all about "puts"
+and "calls," "bulls" and "bears," and had read eagerly the stories of
+fortunes won or lost in the mad whirl of speculation down there.
+
+"Sure you could make it, Bob?" he finally asked of the messenger boy.
+
+"Of course I am. I've seen it done many a time. When three or four big
+brokers club together to boom a stock it booms, and then the lambs lose
+their fleece."
+
+"But wouldn't you be a lamb and lose your fleece, too?"
+
+"No. I wouldn't buy when it had boomed. I'd buy before and sell when it
+went up."
+
+They entered the telegraph office, and Bob sent off the message he had
+brought, after which they went out on the street again.
+
+"What's B. & H. going at now?" Fred asked.
+
+"It's going at forty-seven. It will be up to fifty to-morrow when the
+Stock Exchange closes."
+
+"How do you know that?"
+
+"Mr. Manson is going to buy up all the stock. He has millions behind
+him. The stock will go up, up, up, till it topples over on the lambs.
+Oh, I've seen it done a dozen times. If I had one hundred dollars, I'd
+put it up on ten percent margin--every dollar of it--and scoop in three
+hundred dollars inside of a week."
+
+"Say, Bob, I've got the 'scads.'"
+
+"Eh! Huh?" and Bob stopped and stared at him.
+
+"I've got the 'chink,' the 'rhino,' the hundred dollars," and Fred told
+him the story of what had taken place in the bank but a short half hour
+before.
+
+Bob was staggered.
+
+"Git a hundred quick, Fred. Mr. Tabor will buy on a margin for us."
+
+"Come on. I'll do it," and Fred hurried back to the bank and sent word
+in to Mr. Barron that he wanted $100 more of his money.
+
+It was sent out to him, and he and Bob ran round to Broker Tabor's
+office. It lacked but ten minutes of three o'clock.
+
+"Mr. Tabor, will you buy on a margin for us?" Bob asked the broker.
+
+"Hello, Halsey!" exclaimed the broker, on seeing Fred.
+
+"Hello, sir," returned Fred, seeing he was one of the brokers who had
+given him the money in Barron's office.
+
+"Yes. What is it you want bought?" the broker asked Bob.
+
+"B. & H., sir."
+
+"All right; where's your money?"
+
+"Here it is," said Fred, handing him the money.
+
+"Going into business, eh?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Well, what name shall I use?" and Tabor took up his pen to write a
+receipt for the money.
+
+"Halsey & Co.," said Bob. "I don't know whether Mr. Manson would like to
+have me do such a thing, so put it that way. It's Fred's money, too."
+
+The broker laughed, wrote the receipt, and handed it to Fred, with the
+remark:
+
+"You will soon learn how easy it is to lose money in Wall Street."
+
+"When a man loses, somebody wins," Fred replied, and Tabor never forgot
+the remark, for he had reason to remember it ere he was a year older.
+The two boys went out and Bob said, when they reached the sidewalk:
+
+"I've got to go back to the office, but won't have to stay long as it is
+nearly three o'clock. Come along and wait for me."
+
+Fred went with him and waited downstairs at the street entrance for him
+while he was standing there. Manson, whose name had been forged to the
+check which Fred had been instrumental in stopping, came down the
+stairs, accompanied by a tall, white-haired old man.
+
+"Ah! There's the boy now, general," said Manson, on seeing Fred. "He
+threw the villain twice and then held him with the revolver till others
+secured him."
+
+"Well, really, my lad," said the general, extending his hand to Fred. "I
+honor courage wherever I find it. Shake hands with me. I am glad to know
+you."
+
+Fred shook hands with the old man without uttering a word, the meeting
+taking him quite by surprise. Just as he was going to speak several
+brokers came up and shook hands with the general, and he was forgotten.
+In a little while Bob came down, and the two went away together.
+
+"See here, Fred," Bob said, "we must not say a word about this thing. I
+got the tip in the office, you know."
+
+"Yes, I know."
+
+"At 47 one thousand will get 21 shares." Bob continued. "Par value is
+100. They will try to run it in to that; if they do, we'll make more
+than $300."
+
+"But if it goes backwards or down instead of up, we won't know what hit
+us," remarked Fred.
+
+"That's true. But it's going up," said Bob, with a good deal of
+emphasis. "I have seen it done before, and know just how it works."
+
+They walked up to Broadway and turned toward the City Hall. All the
+newsboys knew them, and, as a late edition of the afternoon papers had
+an account of the arrest of the forger, in which Fred's name was
+mentioned, some of the boys ran to him to ask him about it. The account
+said nothing about the money that had been given Fred, so he felt
+relieved. Of course he had to stop and tell them about it. While he was
+doing so a man came by and asked:
+
+"Do any of you know a newsboy named Fred Halsey?"
+
+"Yes, I do," replied Fred very promptly, ere any of the others could do
+so.
+
+"Where can I find him?"
+
+"Oh, he's around somewhere, He never stops long in one place," and he
+winked at the boys as he spoke.
+
+They all understood at once that Fred did not wish them to give him
+away, and not one would have done so under any circumstances.
+
+"I'd like to give one of you a dollar to find him and point him out to
+me."
+
+"Show us your dollar and I'll tell you how to find him yourself," said
+Fred.
+
+"Here's your money," and the man handed him a dollar bill. Fred took it
+and said:
+
+"That cop over there by the Astor House corner is his dad. Just go over
+there and stand there a while and you'll see him come up to the old man.
+He meets him there about this time every day."
+
+The man, who seemed to be in earnest, seemed half inclined to doubt what
+Fred had told him.
+
+"Is that so, boys?" he asked, appealing to the boys.
+
+"Yes!" the entire crowd sung out.
+
+He turned away and walked over to the Astor House corner.
+
+"What's yer givin' 'im, Fred?" one of the boys asked.
+
+"Whist!" half whispered Fred. "He's a pal of that forger and is looking
+for me to do me up. Come on and we'll eat up this dollar," and he led
+the way to a fruit stand up beyond the City Hall, where he spent the
+money the man had given him for bananas for the boys.
+
+"Well, that was the slickest thing I ever saw done," said Bob. "Why
+don't you have him arrested and sent to join the other fellow?"
+
+"Got no proof on him."
+
+"You said he was his pal."
+
+"Yes, but I couldn't prove it, only my word for it, that's all. He wants
+to lay me out for giving the snap away."
+
+"How do you know he does?"
+
+"Do you think he wants to thank me, give me a new suit of clothes and
+invite me to dine with him at Del's?" and Fred gave the least tinge of a
+sneer to his tones as he spoke.
+
+"Well, hardly," Bob replied, laughing good-naturedly. "It is well enough
+to know what the fellow wants, though."
+
+Fred did not reply, and Bob added:
+
+"He'll find you out, anyway."
+
+"Yes, so he will. Better go back and see what he wants. I'll go with
+you. He can't do us both up."
+
+"Come on. Let's go and see if he is there," and the two young friends
+turned and made their way back to the Astor House where they had sent
+him.
+
+
+CHAPTER III.--The Thief in the Stock Exchange.
+
+When the two boys arrived at the Astor House corner, they failed to find
+the man there. While looking around for him he came up to Fred, laid a
+hand on his shoulder and said:
+
+"It was a neat little game you played on me. Where does the laugh come
+in?"
+
+Fred laughed and asked:
+
+"Where were you born?"
+
+"Right here in New York."
+
+"Must have got lost then. What do you want of me?"
+
+"I am a detective and have been on the tracks of a band of forgers for
+months. I see in the papers that you helped bag one of them to-day. You
+gave warning to the bank. That's what I want to see you about. There is
+a big reward up for the arrest of the gang. If you can give me any
+information that may lead to the arrest of any of them you can have one
+half the reward."
+
+"Not much I won't," Fred replied, shaking his head. "I can arrest the
+whole gang myself and get all the reward."
+
+"That's all nonsense. You can't arrest any man. You're but a boy yet."
+
+"Yes, that's so. But I got one of 'em to-day. I could call that cop over
+here now and get another but I am not ready for you yet."
+
+"What do you mean?' the man asked, turning pale with a frightened look
+in his eyes.
+
+"I mean I am on to you."
+
+"How on to me?"
+
+"Oh, you make me tired. I got your pal to-day. Look out I don't get you
+to-morrow."
+
+The look of amazement on the man's face was a picture. Fred looked up at
+him and laughed. Then he turned away and went over across the street, as
+if to speak to the policeman there. The man hurried across Broadway, and
+was lost in the crowd surging along Park Row.
+
+"That was a good scare you gave him, Fred," Bob said, as they walked on
+up the street.
+
+"Yes. I knew it would be. I wouldn't tell him how I got onto his game.
+That's what he wanted to find out."
+
+"You have got to look out for him after this."
+
+"I am going to do that."
+
+They went up Broadway to Grand street, and then turned toward the
+Bowery. Both lived on the east side, above Grand street, in the densely
+populated districts where rents were cheap and everybody poor. Adah had
+not come in from the store. His aunt was very tired from the labor of a
+hard day's wash, and therefore not in the best of humor.
+
+"What brought you home so soon?" she asked, looking at him.
+
+"Just to make you stop work. You are killing yourself, aunt."
+
+"Would you tell me which is the best way to die--of hard work or
+starvation?" she asked.
+
+"Oh, we are not going to die for a long time yet. You'll marry again,
+and we'll all be rich."
+
+She straightened herself up by the side of the tub and glared at him.
+
+"What's the matter with you, Freddie?" she asked. "Are you sick, child?"
+
+Fred laughed and said:
+
+"Not sick, but tired."
+
+"Well, so am I, and all poor people, as for that matter. Did you give up
+selling papers and come home to rest?"
+
+"No, aunt. I came home to give you a rest. Just look at the color of
+that, and tell me what you think of it," and as he spoke he laid a
+ten-dollar bill on the corner of a little table near where she stood.
+
+She glanced at the bill and almost gasped out:
+
+"Ten dollars! Fred Halsey, where did you get that money?"
+
+"Downtown, aunt. Does it relieve that tired feeling to look at it?"
+
+"Whose is it? Why don't you tell me about it?"
+
+"It's yours, every cent of it, and I've got fifteen more bills of that
+size in the bank."
+
+The good woman dropped down into a chair and glared at her nephew. Fred
+went to her, put his arms about her neck, kissed her and said:
+
+"I've had good luck to-day, aunt. Just read that and you will understand
+it all," and he gave her a copy of an afternoon paper in which was the
+story of the capture of the forger in Barron's bank.
+
+"And they gave you this money for what you did?" she exclaimed, when she
+had finished reading it.
+
+"Yes. They just chipped in and gave me a pile of money. I left all in
+the bank but this, which I wanted to give to you. And you can have every
+cent of the rest whenever you want it--you and sister."
+
+"Oh, you dear, good boy!" she exclaimed, her eyes filling with tears as
+she caught him in her arms. "I knew you would always be good to me."
+
+"You've been a mother to us, aunt, and I'll never go back on my mother!"
+
+Adah came home from the store tired and hungry. At supper her aunt told
+her of Fred's adventure and good fortune. She sprang up and danced
+around the room in her joy and then kissed him a half dozen times.
+
+It did seem like an enormous sum to her a girl of but fourteen summers.
+
+"What are you going to do with it, Fred?" she finally asked.
+
+"Give it to aunt and to use for you and herself."
+
+They all had pleasant dreams that night. Fred dreamed of the big fortune
+made in Wall Street; and Adah dreamed that she was no longer a cash girl
+in a big store, but wore fine dresses and rode in a carriage. The next
+morning, however, Fred ate early and hurried off downtown to sell
+papers, and Adah was at the store at her usual hour. Fred delivered to
+all his Wall Street patrons and then sold on the street to passersby all
+the morning. He was all around the Stock Exchange, for there he found
+the most customers. Inside the Stock Exchange he heard the brokers
+yelling like so many lunatics. That was so often the case, however, that
+he gave it little thought. But soon he saw Bob Newcombe, Manson's
+messenger, come out in a great hurry and dart off down the street.
+
+"Guess Manson is busy inside," he said to himself as he kept his eyes
+open for customers.
+
+In a few moments Bob came running back. He ran up against Fred.
+
+"Just go up in the gallery and see how B. & H. is climbing up, Fred," he
+said to him.
+
+"How much has it gone up, Bob?" Fred asked him.
+
+"Five points, and that means $100 for us," Bob replied.
+
+"Whew!" and Fred whistled.
+
+Bob dashed into the Exchange by way of the side entrance on New street
+and disappeared from view.
+
+"Guess I'll go up in the gallery and look on a while," Fred said to
+himself. "Here, Mugsey, you can have my papers," and he turned over
+about one dozen papers to an ugly little newsboy whom the others called
+Mugsey.
+
+The little fellow was astonished.
+
+"Do yer give 'em ter me, Fred?" he asked before taking them.
+
+"Yes. I'm done for the day."
+
+Fred found quite a crowd of people up in the gallery, and among them a
+party of ladies from out of town. They were sightseeing. But there was
+nothing new to him up there. He wanted to see Broker Manson and watch
+the rise of B. & H. stock. It took him some time to find Manson in the
+moving mass of yelling brokers on the floor below. But he finally found
+him, and for half an hour never took his eyes off of him. He heard him
+offering fifty-three and finally fifty-four for B. & H. It has thus gone
+up seven points since the day before.
+
+"Bob was right," he said. "He knew what he was about. B. & H. is
+climbing right up to the top. Hanged if I don't put in another hundred!"
+and he ran down and out into the street like a young lunatic. In five
+minutes he had put up another hundred dollars with Broker Tabor for
+Halsey & Company to buy more B. & H. stock on margin. The stock was
+bought immediately at 54 1/2-eighteen shares.
+
+That done, Fred returned to the Exchange and watched proceedings from
+the gallery. He kept his eyes on Broker Manson. The big broker was
+buying the stock at a tremendous rate, all that was offered him. People
+were coming and going all the time. Fred finally turned to look at a
+young girl whose voice sounded like music in his ears. She was close by
+his side. She was accompanied by an elderly couple, evidently her
+parents. He thought her very beautiful and that she had the most musical
+voice he had ever heard.
+
+She changed positions several times as though looking for somebody on
+the floor below. He noticed a tall, well-dressed man keeping close
+behind her, peering over her shoulder at the crowd below. Something in
+his movements caused Fred to look at him the second time, and to his
+amazement he saw him pick the pockets of both the ladies. The thief then
+started to leave, but Fred grabbed his coat-tail, saying:
+
+"Here, I saw that little game. It won't go. Ladies, this man has got
+your pocketbooks."
+
+Quick as a flash the thief grabbed him and lifted him above his head.
+Fred saw he was going to be hurled headlong among the brokers below, and
+to save himself seized his assailant's coat collar. The two ladies
+screamed, and the next moment Fred and the pickpocket fell over the
+gallery and went down in a heap on the yelling brokers below.
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.--Fred's First Entrance to the Exchange and Its Results.
+
+The screams of the ladies caused every broker to look up from the floor
+of the Stock Exchange. Like a flash they saw a man and boy come tumbling
+down upon them from the gallery. There was a party of four brokers
+grouped together immediately under them, and, as a matter of
+gravitation, they landed on top of them--on their heads and shoulders.
+Hats were crushed and a confused mass of humanity scrambled about on the
+floor. The yelling ceased when the shrill screams from the gallery were
+heard, and brokers ran forward to help those who had fallen. The
+pickpocket struck out desperately, trying to shake off Fred. In doing so
+he hit Broker Bryant in the face. Bryant was a hard hitter himself, and
+instantly returned the blow--a half dozen or more.
+
+"Blast you, take that!" he hissed, and he gave him lightning-like blows
+till he sank down on the floor unconscious.
+
+"Won't somebody hold him?" Fred cried out. "He's a pickpocket!"
+
+"Who is he?" somebody asked Bryant.
+
+"I don't know and don't care," was the blunt reply. "He hit me in the
+face after tumbling down on my head."
+
+By this time the policeman on duty at the Stock Exchange pushed his way
+through the crowd of brokers and called out:
+
+"What is it? What's the trouble here?" and he looked at the pickpocket,
+who was slowly pulling himself together.
+
+"This man is a pickpocket," said Fred. "He took those ladies' purses up
+there, and when I caught him at it he tried to throw me over the
+gallery. He did throw me, but I brought him down with me."
+
+"Good--good!" cried a broker. "Three cheers for the kid!"
+
+The brokers cheered and then laughed.
+
+"I am no pickpocket," exclaimed the thief, as soon as he saw the officer
+had him. "The boy lies. I merely---"
+
+"Officer, search him!" cried the elder of the two ladies up in the
+gallery. "He has my purse and that of my daughter."
+
+"Yes, search him! Search him!" called out a dozen at once.
+
+Brokers held him and the officer searched him. He found the two purses
+or pocketbooks in his pockets.
+
+"That one is mine!" cried the elderly woman.
+
+"What does it contain, madam?" the officer asked.
+
+"Money and two diamond rings. You can open it and see for yourself."
+
+It was opened and her claim verified.
+
+"Madam, you will have to appear against this man," said the officer,
+looking up at the elderly lady, and he led the prisoner out of the Stock
+Exchange and into one of the many offices of the building.
+
+The lady, accompanied by her husband and daughter, appeared in the room
+and claimed her property. The young girl, who seemed to be about sixteen
+years old, turned to Fred and said:
+
+"We are indebted to you for recovering our purses. I hope you were not
+hurt by the fall?"
+
+"Only a little bit," he replied.
+
+"I'm so sorry!"
+
+"Oh, it's nothing," and he laughed. "It was fun to jerk him over with
+me."
+
+Then she laughed, too, and Fred thought hers the sweetest face he had
+ever seen in all his life.
+
+"What is your name?" she asked him.
+
+"Fred Halsey."
+
+"My name is Eva Gaines. I want to remember your name, for I never had
+such a fright in all my life."
+
+"I'll be sure to remember yours," Fred remarked.
+
+"Why will you? Because you were hurt?"
+
+Fred looked around and saw that everybody also in the room was listening
+to the claiming of the two purses, so he went close up to her and said
+in a half whisper:
+
+"Because you are the most beautiful girl I ever saw."
+
+"Oh, my!" and her face flushed and eyes sparkled.
+
+Young as she was, she was woman enough to know that it was honest
+admiration on the part of the youth. Fred seemed half frightened over
+what he had said and drew back. But she gave him a look and a smile that
+told him plainly he had not offended. He was going to say more to her,
+but at that moment her father turned to her, saying:
+
+"Here, daughter, your purse is yours again," and he held it out to her.
+
+She took it, opened it quickly and glanced at its contents.
+
+"Young man," said Mr. Gaines, turning to Fred, "you've got the right
+stuff in you," and he extended his hand, which Fred grasped and shook.
+"I won't forget you. I have a brother who is a member of the Stock
+Exchange, and I want send your name to him. What is it?"
+
+"I have his name, father," said the young girl.
+
+"Ah, very well, then," and he gave Fred's hand another shake and turned
+away.
+
+But he left a $20 gold coin in it, which Fred's fingers closed over very
+promptly. The next moment they were gone. Fred put the goldpiece in his
+pocket, while the thought flashed through his mind that the young girl
+was all gold herself. The officer took his name and address as a
+witness, and then led his prisoner away to the police station. Just as
+he was leaving the room a broker called out to Fred:
+
+"That man will never forgive you for his arrest. He will set some
+friends of his after you, so you had better be on your guard."
+
+"I'm on my guard all the time, sir," Fred replied.
+
+"What is your name?"
+
+"Fred Halsey."
+
+The broker wrote the name on his cuff and then went out of the room.
+Fred thought nothing of the incident, and went out a moment or two later
+himself, going to the street, hoping to see Bob and find out how B. & H.
+was doing. Out on the street he found that nobody had heard of the
+pickpocket's arrest in the Exchange building.
+
+"I am $20 in on that racket, anyhow," he said to himself as he walked
+around to the side entrance of the Exchange. "I would like to do as well
+every day in the year. Lord, but she is a beauty!"
+
+He was thinking of the girl. Somebody ran into him and the two came near
+going down in a heap together.
+
+"Hello, Fred! I'm in a hurry!" exclaimed the other.
+
+It was Bob!
+
+"Well, don't you know me well enough not to try to run over or through
+me? You can save time by running around me every time."
+
+But Bob was off like a flash, and Fred judged by that B. & H. was
+humming, for Manson was booming it and Bob was his messenger. Seeing two
+brokers talking near the New street entrance, Fred went over near enough
+to hear one say:
+
+"It will go to 70 to-morrow and somebody will be burnt."
+
+"Yes, I think so, too,"
+
+The Exchange closed for the day, and Fred went around to meet Bob again.
+He met Manson at the foot of the stairs, his face flushed from the
+excitement of his tremendous battle in the Exchange.
+
+"Ah!" the big broker exclaimed. "I see you caught another thief to-day.
+Why don't you turn detective? It seems to be your forte."
+
+"I'd rather be a broker, sir," Fred replied.
+
+"A broker, eh?" and Manson looked him full in the eyes. "Think you have
+nerve enough for that?"
+
+"Yes, sir. I've got nerve enough. It's money I want."
+
+Manson laughed and shook his head.
+
+"We all want money. That's what we are here for. But there are more
+losers than winners."
+
+"What one man loses another one wins," said Fred.
+
+"Of course, but one man sometimes wins from a thousand at one turn, so
+you see there are always more losers than winners," and the big broker
+went on up to his office, leaving Fred at the foot of the stairs waiting
+for Bob.
+
+He was quietly waiting there and watching people come and go when he was
+startled by a cry above. He glanced up and saw some one falling from the
+upper floor and sprang aside just in time to escape being crushed. It
+was a messenger boy from Broker Tracey's office.
+
+"Oh, Lord!" gasped Fred. "He must be killed!" and he sprang forward to
+pick him up.
+
+The boy was unconscious. Instantly a dozen brokers were on hand to
+render aid. Broker Tracey came running down to see about him and get the
+telegram the boy was sent out with. Bob came hurrying down too.
+
+"This is too bad," said Tracey. "I am sorry. He is a good messenger.
+Janitor! Janitor!"
+
+The janitor came and by that time the boy had recovered consciousness.
+He groaned in agony. The physician, whose office was in the building,
+examined him.
+
+"Left arm and leg broken," he said.
+
+"Lord, but I am sorry. Doctor, take charge of him, see him through and
+send your bill to me. Tom, my boy, your pay shall go on just the same.
+See if anything is wanted, janitor, and get it for him. Where is the
+telegram, Tom?"
+
+"In my pocket, sir," said Tom, white as a sheet.
+
+It was found and given to the broker, who turned to Bob and said:
+
+"Please send that off for me, Bob, and if you know of a boy who can make
+a good messenger send him to me in the morning."
+
+"Hello, Fred! This is the place for you!" and Bob grabbed Fred by the
+arm and forced him around in front of Tracey. "Here's the one you want,
+sir--Fred Halsey."
+
+"All right; come here to-morrow morning."
+
+So the next morning Fred went to Tracey's office and was engaged as
+messenger. During the day B. & H. went to 87 and Fred as soon as he was
+sent on an errand stopped in at the bank and bad his shares sold for
+Halsey & Co.
+
+Bob was getting $6 a week as messenger for Tracey and it pleased his
+aunt greatly. The next day Tabor gave Bob a statement for Halsey & Co.,
+showing a net profit of over $1,200, which he placed to their credit.
+Fred and Bob were standing under the gallery of the Stock Exchange in
+the place allotted to messengers, when Broker Keeley gave a howl and
+sprang at the throat of Broker Gaines. They fell to the floor. The old
+man turned his eyes toward Fred. They seemed to pop out of his head for
+the maniac was choking him.
+
+"I can't stand that!" cried Fred, and the next moment both his hands
+were in Broker Keeley's hair. He let go the old man's throat, and a
+dozen brokers ran in to separate them and quell the row.
+
+Next day Fred said to Bob: "I met Gaines's typewriter just now and she
+said Mr. Gaines had not been to the office since his row with Broker
+Keeley. The clerk who is running the office insulted her and she wants
+to leave."
+
+"By George!" answered Bob, "Bryant's girl has just asked me to find a
+place for her. What did you tell Callie?"
+
+"I told her I would look out for her, and I will."
+
+During the day Fred got a place for Callie with Broker Tabor, and Bob
+secured a temporary place for Bertie Clayton in old Broker Bowles's
+office.
+
+The day after the two boys met the girls in a restaurant, and Callie
+told Fred of a tip she had come across. It was Pacific Mail, and it was
+going to be cornered.
+
+
+CHAPTER V.--The Typewriter Girl's Tip.
+
+Fred and Bob came away from the restaurant with the two girls, going
+toward Wall Street. Fred asked Callie several questions about the deal
+she had mentioned.
+
+"I'll make a note of what I can find out," she said to him, "and let you
+know after 3 o'clock."
+
+"But be careful and let no one else know it," he replied.
+
+"Oh, I can keep a secret even if I am a girl," and she left him on the
+corner of Nassau and Wall to go to the bank.
+
+Fred clutched Bob's arm when the two girls were gone, and said:
+
+"Callie says a big corner in Pacific Mail is being made up in Barron's
+office."
+
+"By George! Is it straight, do you think?"
+
+"Yes. She says she'll make notes and give 'em to me. She let it out by
+saying if she had any money laid up she could make a pile out of Pacific
+Mail. I soon got the whole thing out of her."
+
+"When will you see her again?"
+
+"After three o'clock."
+
+It was a little after three o'clock when Fred saw her come out of the
+bank. He went to meet her, and she said to him:
+
+"Bryant is going to do the buying--begins to-morrow. You won't tell any
+one that I told you?"
+
+"No; that would never do."
+
+She lived over on the west side, and had a widowed mother and little
+brother to support. He walked nearly all the way home with her. Bob went
+uptown with Gertie Clayton, and did not see Fred again till the next
+morning.
+
+"I am going to buy Pacific Mail, Bob," Fred said to him.
+
+"Go ahead then--for Halsey & Company--the whole pile."
+
+Pacific Mail was going that morning at 52. Fred went to Tabor and asked
+him to buy Pacific Mail on 10 per cent margin. Tabor gave a start,
+looked keenly at him for a moment, and then asked:
+
+"Why do you buy that stock?"
+
+"I heard a man tell another one it was safe to try it."
+
+"Give me his name."
+
+"No, sir. Will you buy it for me?"
+
+"I'd rather not do it," and he shook his head.
+
+"Oh! Then I'll try somebody else," and Fred went away with a check for
+$1,200 in his pocket.
+
+He went over to Bowles' office, and arranged with the old man to buy for
+him 230 shares at 52. The old broker had the shares bought inside of ten
+minutes. By twelve o'clock Fred saw Bryant buying all that he could get
+hold of, but there were thousands and thousands of shares on the market,
+and he had bought 10,000 ere there was any signs of life in the deal.
+Then it began slowly to advance. It closed with an advance of one point
+on the first day. But the next day saw it go up three points, and the
+brokers in the Exchange began to hustle. It was an immense concern and
+the shares were in every broker's hands. But Bryant gathered them in by
+the thousand at a time. On the third day it was up to sixty, and Fred
+met Callie at lunch to tell her she had got the thing down fine.
+
+"Oh, if I only had some money to put up!" she said.
+
+"You have got ten per cent interest in my little pile," he said to her.
+
+"What! Just for the tip?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Oh, my! I could give you tips almost every day."
+
+"Wall Street is always full of tips," and he laughed. "Such a thing as
+this, though, comes but once or twice a year."
+
+"B. & H. was a big thing for some of the brokers," she replied.
+
+"Yes, and a very bad one for a number of them, too."
+
+"Do you know, I think Mr. Gaines was badly squeezed in that deal?"
+
+"Ah! I saw him nearly choked to death by that fellow who lost his head.
+If I had not interfered he'd have been killed."
+
+"Oh, was it you?" and she opened wide her blue eyes.
+
+"Yes--why?"
+
+"Why, he has sent down to the office instructing the clerks to try to
+find out who it was. His niece, Miss Eva Gaines, called at the office
+and spoke to me about it."
+
+Fred opened his eyes in astonishment.
+
+"She is such a sweet girl," added Callie, "I promised to let her know if
+I ever found out who it was. Why, he might give you a gold watch or
+something. Who knows?" and she laughed merrily as she told him the
+story.
+
+"Well, I am surprised," was all he could say.
+
+"What shall I say to her when I see her or write to her?" Callie asked
+him.
+
+"Tell her what you please."
+
+They left the little restaurant together and did not meet again till the
+same hour the next day. Then Pacific Mail was going at 66 and the
+brokers were again in a furor. Coming so soon after the panic caused by
+the corner in B. & H. shares, it caused a general interest throughout
+the city.
+
+"I wrote to Miss Gaines yesterday," Callie said to him, "and told her
+that you--Fred Halsey--was the one who had saved her uncle's life in the
+Stock Exchange, and you may expect a sweet-scented note of thanks from
+her at any moment."
+
+On returning home from lunch Fred found the excitement in the Exchange
+greater than ever, the shares had bounded up to 72. He went to the
+office and found Tracey out.
+
+"He is around at the Exchange," the head bookkeeper said to him. "Go and
+report to him at once."
+
+Tracey was howling like the rest of them when Fred touched him on the
+arm and said:
+
+"I am ready for duty, sir."
+
+"Ah! Find Manson and bring him to me--quick!"
+
+He looked about among the brokers, but failed to find him. Meeting Bob,
+he told him Tracey wanted to see Manson.
+
+"He is in his office," Bob replied.
+
+"I'll go after him then," and he darted out of the side door of the
+Exchange and hurried around to Manson's office.
+
+"Mr. Manson," he said, "Mr. Tracey told me to bring you to him at once."
+
+"When did he tell you?"
+
+"Just two minutes ago in the Stock Exchange."
+
+Manson arose, put on his hat and went out. Fred followed him, and both
+were soon in the midst of the frantic mob of brokers again. Bryant was
+the coolest man in the whole crowd. He knew what he was there for and
+kept taking all the shares that were offered him. Fred saw Manson and
+Tracey meet and go under the gallery for a few moments' consultation. He
+kept an eye on them, for he was not sure of their connection with the P.
+M. combine. By and by they went out and he followed. In the crowd on the
+street he lost sight of them. Then he went back to the office and told
+the head clerk.
+
+"Wait here and see if he returns," said the clerk, and he did so.
+
+The broker came back a few minutes before the Exchange closed and sent
+Fred to the bank with a big check to deposit. After depositing the check
+he turned to look into the president's room. Barron was out, but he saw
+through the glass door that Callie was idle. She caught his eye and came
+out to speak to him.
+
+"Any news?" he asked.
+
+"No. Mr. Barron told a man just now that he thought P. M. would go to
+par to-morrow."
+
+"Then I won't sell to-day."
+
+"Why, no, wait till to-morrow. How much did you put up, Fred?"
+
+"Oh, I had to buy on a margin," he replied.
+
+"Of course. I didn't expect you to do otherwise. Did you put up as much
+as fifty dollars?"
+
+"Yes, more," he replied.
+
+"Oh, my!" she exclaimed. "That would get nearly ten shares on ten per
+cent, margin. You promised me ten per cent, for the tip, mind you."
+
+"Yes, and you shall have it," he replied, "but don't say a word or you'd
+be discharged."
+
+"Oh, I can hold my tongue when I want to," and she turned and went back
+into the office.
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.--Broker Bryant's Mistake.
+
+When Fred returned to the office the Exchange had closed for the day.
+Pacific Mail closed at 76. Bob met him at the foot of the stairs,
+grasped his hand and said:
+
+"We've struck it rich, Fred!"
+
+"Yes, but you want to keep mum."
+
+"Of course."
+
+They went home and spent the evening together making calculations. Adah
+wanted to know why they were making such a lot of figures, and Bob said
+to her:
+
+"Wall Street men have to do a good deal of figuring."
+
+"Yes, so I've heard, but I didn't know the boys did."
+
+Fred laughed, nudged Bob and remarked:
+
+"That's one on you, old man!"
+
+The next day they found that the shares opened at 79--two hours later
+they were going at 82.
+
+"I'm going to sell, Bob," said Fred. "It's getting dangerous."
+
+"It may go up to 100."
+
+"We had better stand from under," said Fred, shaking his head.
+
+"Well, let her go."
+
+Fred hastened to Bowles' office and told him to sell. In five minutes it
+was done, and they had made over $6,000 on the deal. Manson sent Bob to
+Bryant with a note. Somebody had just dumped 3,000 shares on the big
+broker and he was in a bad humor when Bob came to him with the note. He
+looked down and saw who it was--the boy who had gotten the situation for
+his typewriter--and quick as a flash he gave him a kick that sent him
+sprawling on the floor. Bob had the note still in his hand when he
+scrambled to his feet again. But he did not deliver it. He staggered out
+of the Exchange, feeling sick from the effects of the blow, and made his
+way back to the office, where he told Mr. Manson what had happened.
+
+"It was an accident, Bob," the broker said. "The excitement in there is
+awful, you know."
+
+"No, sir. It was no accident," said Bob. "He hates me because I found a
+place for his typewriter who left him because he wanted to make love to
+her."
+
+Munson laughed and said:
+
+"That must me a mistake, my boy."
+
+"No mistake about it. The girl is in Bowles' office, and she'll tell you
+the same thing. I am going to have him arrested."
+
+"Oh, that won't do."
+
+"I'll make it do."
+
+Bob was mad.
+
+"See here, young man, I'll give you your walking papers if I hear any
+more talk like that!"
+
+"Give 'em to me right away then," said Bob. "I'm going to see if a man
+can kick the innerds out of a boy just for fun and not pay for it."
+
+Manson was surprised at Bob's spunk. He looked at him in silence for a
+minute or two and then said:
+
+"You are mad clear through, eh?"
+
+"You bet I am!"
+
+"Well, wait till I see him before doing anything."
+
+"All right; but you want to see him soon."
+
+"I'll see him after 3 o'clock."
+
+After 3 o'clock Bob, Fred and Broker Manson went over to Bryant's
+office. Bryant was at his desk.
+
+"Why did you kick my messenger, Bryant?" Manson asked.
+
+"Was it your messenger?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I didn't know who it was. I felt some one pulling my coat-tail and
+kicked out. It was no time for fooling. You know, somebody is always
+fooling over there?"
+
+"That's a lie," said Bob. "You know I touched your elbow, not your
+coat-tail. You looked down in my face, saw who it was and then kicked
+me."
+
+Bryant was so astounded at being given the lie so bluntly he sat still
+and heard Bob through without uttering a word; then he looked up at
+Manson and said:
+
+"There's cheek for you!"
+
+"Cheek!" exclaimed Bob. "Don't say a word about cheek! Your cheek drove
+your typewriter out of your office. I got a place for her, and you had
+the cheek to go to her new place and raise a row. That is what you
+kicked me for. Two members of the Exchange told me to prosecute you and
+call them as witnesses--Mr. Turner and Mr. Agnew."
+
+Bryant turned white as a sheet. Those two brokers were his bitterest
+enemies. They stood high, and their evidence would down him.
+
+"See here, my boy," he said, "I ought to kick you clean through that
+window for your impudence, but I won't. I tell you---"
+
+"Of course, you won't," said Bob, interrupting him. "It's my time to
+kick now."
+
+Bryant was cool, pale, and yet in a rage. He saw that he was in a
+serious scrape, and Bob, though a boy, was game all through.
+
+"Are you willing for Mr. Manson to settle the matter?" he asked.
+
+"No, sir. He is not my lawyer."
+
+Bryant gave a start.
+
+"Who is pour lawyer?" he asked.
+
+"I haven't engaged one yet, but you can bet I am going to."
+
+"Well, I see you are very mad about it. We can settle it ourselves, I
+think, Just tell me what you want me to do."
+
+"Well, I think you ought to be made to break stone over on the Island
+for about six months. You need a good lesson and I'd like to see you get
+one of that kind."
+
+"The court would probably fine me $50. Will that sum satisfy you?"
+
+"No, sir. You think money is everything. I don't. Just acknowledge that
+you are an old hog and beg my pardon, and you may go to the Old Harry
+for all I care!"
+
+That was too much for the big broker. He sprang forward and dealt Bob a
+stinging slap in the face. But the next moment both Bob and Fred sprang
+up like two wildcats.
+
+He tried to defend himself, of course, but those two boys had fought
+many a battle in the street and were fighters from way back. They rolled
+on the floor together, while Manson kept calling out:
+
+"Boys! Boys! I'll call the police to you!"
+
+They never heard him. If they did they didn't heed him. In half a minute
+both eyes were blacked, all the beard from one side of his face gone,
+and fully one-half of his hair lay on the floor. And still they went for
+him. Suddenly the shrill scream of a woman startled them, and the two
+boys desisted to turn and look at the newcomer.
+
+It happened to be Bryant's wife who uttered the scream when she saw what
+was taking place. Of course the row ended then and there. Bryant got up,
+explained to his wife what it all was about and apologized right then
+for his action. Of course Bob accepted it, and the matter was settled,
+as the boys thought. But the next day Bob met Fred and told him he had
+been discharged by Manson, saying that of course Bryant was responsible
+for it.
+
+A couple of days later Fred was the recipient of a handsome gold watch
+and chain, a present from Mr. Gaines.
+
+One day Callie came to Fred and told him of a tip she had got hold of.
+It was M. & C. Fred went to see Broker Bowles, and asked him to buy
+3,000 shares of M. & C. for him. The broker bid in the amount of shares
+Fred wanted. The price soon went up to 90, and then Bowles sold him out.
+The next day Fred and Bob visited Bowles, who gave them a statement
+showing they had made $170,000 profit.
+
+"Mr. Bowles," said Fred, "Risley & Cohn have failed. If their office is
+to rent please rent it for five years for Halsey & Co., and buy all the
+furniture. Pay a year's rent in advance."
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.--Halsey & Company Open a Bank.
+
+"Bob, I'm going to resign," said Fred, when they came out from Bowles'
+office.
+
+"Resign what?"
+
+"My place at Tracey's."
+
+"Well, I think you can afford to."
+
+"Yes. We can go in on our own hook now," and he went over to the office
+and told the gruff old broker he wanted to quit.
+
+"What's the matter?" Tracey asked.
+
+"Going to open a bank."
+
+"What with, a jimmy?"
+
+"No, a key."
+
+"Going to play craps, I guess. Do you know a boy I can get?'
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Bring him here then and I'll let you off."
+
+In half an hour Fred had a youth on hand who lad been looking for a
+place for mouths. He then went downstairs and joined Bob. They agreed to
+keep the deal a secret as long as possible. Bob was to wait for Gertie
+Clayton, Bowles' typewriter, and warn her to say nothing about it to any
+one, while Fred was to wait for Callie as she came out of Barron's bank.
+When business closed for the day, Fred saw Callie come up and go up
+toward Broadway. He soon joined her.
+
+"Have you heard the news from the deal in M. & C.?" he asked her.
+
+"No. How did is turn out?"
+
+"It sold at 80."
+
+"Did you sell?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+She made a rapid calculation and said:
+
+"You have made a fortune."
+
+"Yes, so we have, but mum is the word."
+
+"Do I get anything?"
+
+"Of course; ten percent."
+
+She gasped, turned pale, and seemed almost ready to faint.
+
+"I have a check for your share in my pocket," he added.
+
+"How much is it?"
+
+"Seventeen thousand."
+
+"Oh, Fred!"
+
+"Do suppose you would turn up your nose at a eager boy now if he were to
+come courting he remarked.
+
+"That depends on who he is and how he behaves himself," she replied,
+regaining control of herself.
+
+Then a minute or two later she asked:
+
+"What am I to do? Please tell me for my head is all in a whirl."
+
+"Oh, don't lose your head," said he laughing. "Just leave it where you
+left the other one and that will be all right. Keep your eyes and ears
+open for another tip."
+
+"Why, must I keep on at work?"
+
+"Yes, of course. How can you get any tips if you don't?"
+
+"I'm afraid I can't do much work with so much money in bank."
+
+"Why, that ought to make you work harder. You should not think of
+stopping before you have made at least one hundred thousand dollars.
+Then you could live in a fine house and keep a carriage."
+
+They went on up the street talking and laughing. He gave her the check
+and she put it in her pocket.
+
+"Now, Callie," he said, "I've rented a flat in the block above where you
+live and have bought some furniture for it. I want you to select the
+carpets, curtains and other things for me, as I don't know what they are
+worth, or even what sort to get. I am preparing a surprise for my aunt
+and sister."
+
+"Oh, that is good of you! They don't know of your good luck yet?"
+
+"They don't even dream of it."
+
+"Oh, what a surprise it will be to them. Of course I will help you,
+Fred. Where are you going to buy?"
+
+"Come along with me," and they went to a big store where he had already
+purchased some things. She had good tastes, good judgment and was a
+quick buyer. In half an hour she had made the selections; Fred paid the
+bill and ordered everything put into the flat as soon as possible.
+
+Then he saw her home, left her at the entrance and made his way across
+town toward his aunt's humble abode. She was still at work over the tub,
+and, as a matter of course, very tired.
+
+"I'll break all that up in a few days," he said to himself.
+
+Two days later Broker Bowles said to him:
+
+"You can get Risley & Cohn's offices, but the rent is high--$5,000 a
+year. They ask $3,000 for the furniture as it stands."
+
+"Take both for Halsey & Company," said Fred. "Pay one year in advance.
+I'll give you a check for $8,000," and he did.
+
+"I'll have the lease for you this afternoon," said the old man.
+
+Bob and Fred then went off to engage a sign painter to put up their firm
+name in big gold letters on the immense plate glass front of the
+offices.
+
+The next day they found their name
+
+          "HALSEY & COMPANY,
+              "Bankers,
+     "Speculators in Stocks, Bonds, etc."
+
+in big gold letters, the handsomest on the street. Mr. Allison, the man
+who had kept the books for Risley & Cohn for fifteen years, had been
+engaged for them by Bowles, who told him they were a couple of boys. He
+was elderly, bald, with a full, round face known to every broker in Wall
+Street. His knowledge of Wall Street was thorough.
+
+"It will create a sensation when it is known who Halsey & Company are,"
+he remarked to them, as they watched the people admire the sign as they
+went by.
+
+"Yes, I guess so. We'll have some fun with 'em. But see here, Mr.
+Allison, we are no fools if we haven't got any beards. We want you to
+manage the banking end of this thing, and stand ready to collar us when
+you see us going wrong. Do you understand?" and Fred faced him as he
+spoke.
+
+The old man looked over his glasses at him for a few moments as if
+surprised at what he had just heard.
+
+"Well, that shows you have good, old-fashioned horse sense, young man,"
+he replied. "Most boys of your age think they know it all, and have to
+pay dearly for lessons they might have had free."
+
+Just then Broker Tracey came by and stopped to look at the new firm name
+on the glass front. Fred went to the door and invited him in. Tracey
+looked at him in astonishment and then at the sign again.
+
+"How do you like our new quarters?" Fred asked him.
+
+"Whose quarters?"
+
+"Halsey & Company--Fred Halsey and Bob Newcombe--we are the firm. Mr.
+Allison here is our manager."
+
+Tracey glanced at Allison, whom he had known for years, and the old man
+said:
+
+"It is true, Sir."
+
+"Got any capital?" Tracey asked.
+
+"Plenty of it," replied Allison.
+
+He turned on Fred and asked:
+
+"What has happened? Where did you get it?"
+
+"What some people lose others gain," Fred replied. "I got a good deal of
+fleece out of M. & C. the other day. Did you lose any wool?"
+
+Tracey's face was a picture to look at. He was a loser in that deal to
+the tune of some $20,000, and this sudden and unexpected discovery of
+where it had gone was a shock to him.
+
+"Well, I'm jiggered!" he exclaimed, looking at Allison. "I've been
+thirty years in Wall Street and these are the first boy bankers I ever
+saw."
+
+"They are the first I ever saw, too, sir," said Allison, "and I've been
+thirty-five years in the Street. They've both got good heads on their
+shoulders."
+
+"Just come in here and let me show you something. Mr. Tracey," said Bob,
+leading the way into the private office of the former bankers. "I want
+to show you some fleece we have on exhibition," and he pointed to a
+large bunch of white wool hanging to a hook on the wall above his desk,
+labeled:
+
+       "JAMES BRYANT,
+     "M. & C. fleece."
+
+The old broker roared.
+
+"Say, I hope you won't hang mine up that way!" he exclaimed.
+
+"We have too much respect for you to do that sir."
+
+"How about Manson?"
+
+"Oh, we got a good lot off him, but I was once in his employ."
+
+"Well, I'm glad you haven't got mine hung up," and he went out, laughing
+heartily.
+
+In an hour the whole Street had the news, and scores of brokers came by
+to look in at the two boys. They were all amused, for they laughed and
+joked each other about it.
+
+Half an hour later a wave of jolly laughter went through the Street as
+the fleece story was told. Bryant was guyed till he had to shut himself
+up in his office and refuse to see any one. Manson came in and whispered
+to Bob to drop that Bryant's fleece business, adding:
+
+"He has a host of friends in Wall Street, and it will hurt your business
+to make an enemy of him."
+
+"He is already my enemy," Bob replied, "and had me discharged from your
+employ. I will never let up on him as long as I live."
+
+Just before business closed Bryant rushed into the office and said:
+
+"I want to see the bunch of wool you have here with my name on it."
+
+"Here it is," said Bob, opening the door of the private office and
+pointing to the wool hanging against the wall.
+
+Bryant grabbed it and started to the door with it. Bob opened the drawer
+of the desk, took out a revolver, and aiming at him, said:
+
+"Here's something to go with it."
+
+Bryant wheeled around and found himself looking down the muzzle of the
+revolver.
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.--Broker Bryant and the Boys.
+
+When Broker Bryant saw the muzzle of a revolver staring him in the face
+he turned white as a sheet.
+
+"Just drop that fleece on the desk there; if you please," said Bob very
+coolly.
+
+He laid it down without saying a word, never once taking his eyes off
+the revolver.
+
+"You may go now," Bob said. "You can't get any fleece out of this
+office."
+
+"Put up that gun. You are making a fool of yourself," said Bryant
+finally.
+
+"Maybe I am. All the same, I'd have made a corpse of you if you had not
+dropped that wool."
+
+"What have you got my name on it for?"
+
+"I am having a little fun out of it--that's all."
+
+"You have no right to use my name at all."
+
+"Maybe I haven't. Go to law about it, and let the court decide that
+question. I am going to keep it there, for you are the meanest man in
+Wall Street. You had a messenger boy discharged from his position of
+five dollars a week. It will be a long time before I can have fun enough
+with you to satisfy me, Mr. Bryant."
+
+"I did not have you discharged."
+
+"Oh, that's all right."
+
+"But you can ask Manson."
+
+"Yes, I know. We got more of his fleece than we did of yours. I haven't
+had much fun with him yet. One at a time and it will last longer."
+
+"You must take my name off that thing there."
+
+"Not at your command I won't."
+
+"Well, I'll see about it," and he turned and went out.
+
+Fred and those in the main office were not aware of what had been going
+on between Bob and Bryant in the private office.
+
+"What did he say, Bob?" Fred asked.
+
+Bob told him what had passed between the broker and himself, adding:
+
+"He is the maddest man on earth. I am getting even with him, and am
+going to run that fleece business till some court tells me to stop it."
+
+"By George," exclaimed Fred, "if he goes to law about it we'll be the
+best advertised firm in the Street."
+
+"That's so," remarked Allison, his broad face wreathed in smiles. "He is
+a strong man--has many friends; but Wall Street brokers are always ready
+to shear each other."
+
+"Of course they are. Business knows no friendship. It is merciless in
+its operations."
+
+Allison looked at him in no little surprise. Such a hard, cynical view
+of business coming from one so young almost startled him.
+
+"Where did you pick up that idea?" he asked Fred.
+
+"In the Stock Exchange when I was a messenger boy," was the reply.
+
+"Who gave it to you?"
+
+"Nobody. I got the idea from what I saw going on all around me."
+
+"Well, you have observed closely, young man. It's a harsh judgment, but
+correct in the main. I hope, though, that in your success you will not
+forget those who are unfortunate."
+
+"I hope so, too, Mr. Allison. It is not my nature to be mean or stingy.
+Bob gave the old beggar with the red shawl a dollar yesterday."
+
+"He did, eh?"
+
+"Yes, sir. She's sixty if a day."
+
+"Yes, and has been begging in Wall Street for twenty years. I'd wager a
+month's salary she has ten thousand dollars in bank and owns real estate
+somewhere on Manhattan island."
+
+"What are you giving me?" and Fred looked the picture of incredulity.
+
+"The straight truth. I have a nephew in a little east side bank above
+Grand street, and he says she has a fat account there, and that he has
+seen three other bank books in her possession."
+
+"Well, I'll be hanged!" exclaimed Fred. "I thought I knew a thing or
+two, but that yarn jiggers me."
+
+The old man laughed and was going to say more when a crowd of boys came
+in. Business had closed for the day, and every messenger boy in Wall and
+Broad streets had made a rush to see Fred and Bob in their new role as
+bankers. Boothblacks and newsboys were among them, and they made the
+welkin ring with their shouts.
+
+"Say, give us a loan, Bob."
+
+"Cash a check for me, Fred."
+
+"How much chink have you got, boys?"
+
+"Where did you break in, Fred?"
+
+"How much did you get?"
+
+"Where were the cops?"
+
+"Ah, let up on that, cullies!" sung out Fred. "Come by to-morrow at this
+time and get a ticket for a square meal. It's none of your business
+where we got it. We've got it and that's enough."
+
+They gave Halsey & Company three cheers and left. Just an they were
+about to close the doors Callie Ketcham came in.
+
+"Oh, my, what a grand place it is, Fred!" she exclaimed, as she looked
+around the place. "Promise me a situation when you need a typewriter."
+
+"Indeed I won't!" he replied.
+
+"Why?" and she looked at him in surprise.
+
+"Tips!" he whispered.
+
+She laughed and exclaimed:
+
+"Oh, yes, I see!"
+
+"Besides, if you were here all the time I'd do very little business, I
+fear."
+
+"Oh, that's some of your talk again. Have you any depositors?"
+
+"No. Just opened to-day."
+
+"May I be one of your depositors?"
+
+"Of course, if you wish. Mr. Allison is the cashier," and he introduced
+the old man to her.
+
+"Give me a check, please," she said, and when she got it she filled it
+out for $10,000, handed it to the old man, saying:
+
+"I am your first depositor, and am so glad to know it."
+
+"I'll send you a book to-morrow," he said, as he put it away.
+
+"No, don't send it; I'll call for it myself," she replied.
+
+"Very well, Miss Ketcham."
+
+The old cashier was knocked topsy-turvy at receiving a check for such a
+sum from a young typewriter. As they were going out Gertie Clayton came
+by and said:
+
+"They told me you had opened a bank here, Bob, and I wanted to see if it
+was true," and she looked up at the sign on the big plate glass front.
+
+Callie caught her hand, kissed her as girls do, and said:
+
+"Oh, Gertie, it's just too grand for anything in there! Would you
+believe it, I am the first depositor on their books!"
+
+"I wish I could put money in the bank, but I can't. It takes all I can
+make to keep a roof over our heads."
+
+"Why don't you strike old Bowles for a raise in your salary?" Bob asked
+her.
+
+"It is useless. He told me to-day he would not want me after this week."
+
+"The deuce he did! What's the matter?" Bob blurted out.
+
+"I am sure I don't know. He has never found fault with my work, He said
+I could go back to Bryant's, as he had said I could always find a place
+there."
+
+"Well, don't you go there," said Bob. "I'll see if I can't find another
+place for you."
+
+"I am such a trouble to you, Bob."
+
+"Indeed you are not."
+
+Fred and Callie had gone on ahead, and Bob walked with Gertie. They
+passed Broker Bryant on Broadway, and Gertie gave a shudder as she saw
+him, saying to Bob:
+
+"I am afraid of that man. He looks at me sometimes as though he wanted
+to kill me."
+
+"He is bad enough to do it," Bob said. "He hates me like poison, and
+would poison me if he could."
+
+"I believe he paid Mr. Bowles to discharge me."
+
+"Why, what good would that do him?"
+
+"He thinks I'll go back to his office if I can't get a place anywhere
+else."
+
+"Well, if you can't get a place, you can have deskroom with us and do
+chance work. You must not go back to him," and Bob was very earnest in
+his way as he spoke.
+
+Bob saw her to her home and then hastened to his own humble domicile.
+When he got there he found the sidewalk in front of the tenement piled
+up with furniture. Two families were being ejected for non-payment of
+rent--$9 each. The landlord was there directing the officers. Bob looked
+on for a few minutes, and then quietly handed a ten-dollar bill to each
+of the two mothers, saying:
+
+"Go across the street and get rooms. You can get 'em for $8 over there."
+
+They both sprang up and showered blessings on his head and curses at the
+landlord.
+
+One day a week later Bob received a tip from Gertie Clayton that Rock
+Island shares were going to be cornered. Bob saw Fred about it and they
+watched Rock Island. Pretty soon they saw it advance. Then Fred ordered
+15,000 shares bought for the firm. The next day a man called and asked
+them to lend him $10,000 on a good stock worth double that amount. Fred
+asked to see the stock. It was K. & T. Fred took the stock to Mr.
+Allison for his advice, and the bookkeeper denounced the stock as a
+clever forgery. When the man heard that he made a snatch for the paper,
+missed it, and then made a break for the door. Fred darted across his
+path and upset him near the door. He fell heavily, striking the plate
+glass and shattering it.
+
+"I'm a dead man!" he gasped, rolling over on the floor, the blood
+spurting from a cut on the side of his head.
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.--The Doctor and the Young Banker.
+
+When Fred saw the red stream spurt from the man's neck he sprang back
+and exclaimed:
+
+"It was the glass!"
+
+Bob ran out from another room. So did the clerk, and Mr. Allison came
+around from behind the cashier's desk. Others who heard the glass rattle
+down on the sidewalk ran in to see what had happened.
+
+"The man is bleeding to death!" cried some one. "Send for a doctor!"
+
+"Call an ambulance!" said somebody, and both were summoned.
+
+But ere either could get there the man was dead. The broken glass had
+cut a jugular vein and his life ebbed away inside of three minutes. A
+policeman ran in when he saw the crowd before the bank.
+
+"How did it happen?" he asked.
+
+"He fell against the glass and it cut his neck," replied the clerk.
+
+"Did you see it?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then I want you to go with me and tell the story to the coroner.
+
+"We'll all do that," said Allison.
+
+"Did you see it, too?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then I want you, too."
+
+"Very well."
+
+The doctor who had been summoned came in and examined the wound.
+
+"The jugular is severed," he said. "No power on earth could have saved
+him."
+
+"Who was he?" the officer asked.
+
+Nobody answered him.
+
+"Does no one in this crowd recognize him?"
+
+They gazed at the dead man, but none knew him.
+
+"Who sent for me?" the doctor asked, looking around.
+
+No one answered him.
+
+"Who pays my fee?"
+
+"You ought to know who told you about it," said the officer.
+
+"Somebody called up to my window to come quick. I didn't see him."
+
+"Doctor, I'll pay the bill," said Fred, "as long as it happened in
+here."
+
+"Very well. Ten dollars, please," and the doctor held out his hand for
+the money.
+
+Fred handed it to him, saying:
+
+"Be kind enough to get out. You're a hog on two legs."
+
+"What!" and the doctor gasped as if for breath.
+
+"Get out of here, you old hog!" repeated Fred.
+
+The doctor struck at him, his face livid with rage. The officer caught
+him by the arm, saying:
+
+"If you raise a disturbance here I shall have to arrest you, sir."
+
+"Did you hear him insult me?" cried the doctor.
+
+"Yes, but you can't fight here."
+
+"If he wants to fight, let him fight a man of his size, not a boy," said
+a broker in the crowd. "He is a hog, judging from his actions, and I am
+ready to back it up!"
+
+"I'll sue you for slander!" hissed the doctor, as he made his way
+through the crowd.
+
+"Sue and be hanged to you! You are a coward as well as a hog!" and the
+belligerent broker followed him out to the sidewalk.
+
+The doctor got away in the crowd. The ambulance came, and the body was
+removed to the police station to await identification and the action of
+the coroner. The doors of the bank were closed, and a number of brokers
+remained inside to find out how the thing had happened. Mr. Allison
+related how it occurred, and produced the certificate, which they all
+examined. But not one of them was willing to say it was a forgery. The
+old man was the best posted of them all.
+
+"I would have loaned him $20,000 on that," said a well-known broker as
+he examined it.
+
+"You would have lost every penny of it, sir," replied Allison.
+
+"Do you wish to wager anything on it?" the broker asked.
+
+"I have no money to put up."
+
+"Make the bet--I'll put up the money," said Bob. "I am willing to bet on
+you."
+
+"Very well, I'll wager $10,000 that this is a forgery, that the company
+has never issued a 'Third series' of shares."
+
+"Put up the money," said the broker. "I'll give my check. It can't be
+certified now, since the bank is closed."
+
+"You won't stop it if you lose, eh?" Bob asked.
+
+"No, not I."
+
+"Very well, Mr. Allison, put up the money in the hands of any one you
+know."
+
+The old man put up the money and Broker Dean put up his cheek.
+
+"Now let's go to Doggett & Holmes' office and see what they say about
+it. They are the attorneys for the road and ought to know all about it,"
+Allison said, and the whole party of about a dozen men went out and down
+on Broad street, where they soon climbed up three flights to the law
+offices of Doggett & Holmes.
+
+Holmes was in. Doggett had left. He examined the certificate and
+pronounced it a forgery, saying:
+
+"No 'Third series' has ever been issued by the company."
+
+"Whoop!" yelled Bob, "I'll bet on my old man every time!"
+
+The crowd roared and Dean was nettled.
+
+"I want to have the statement of the president of the company before I
+give up," he said.
+
+"Will the treasurer of the company do?" Holmes asked.
+
+"Yes, of course."
+
+"Well, he is here," and he sent a clerk into another room for a Mr.
+Timson, the treasurer of the company.
+
+He came out and very promptly pronounced it a forgery.
+
+"Whoop!" yelled Bob again. "Halsey & Company are bankers and
+speculators, and sometimes they bet on a dead sure thing. Say, Fred,
+we've got some more fleece to hang up."
+
+The brokers yelled and Dean said to him:
+
+"See here now, boys, none of that. If you get any of my fleece in a deal
+you can hang it up on your front door. This is quite a different thing."
+
+"But do you give it up?" Bob asked.
+
+"Oh, yes. You can have the money."
+
+"All right. We can't call it fleece at all. Mr. Allison, one-half is
+yours. Shake, old man."
+
+Allison jumped as though he had been shot.
+
+"Do you mean that, Bob?" he asked.
+
+"Of course I do."
+
+"And you--is it all right?" he asked of Fred.
+
+"Of course it is. You saved us $10,000, didn't you?"
+
+"Well, that was my duty. I've been thirty-three years in Wall Street and
+never had so much consideration shown me before," and his eyes became
+moist and his voice husky.
+
+"I say, boys!" called out another broker, "let's all go and dine
+together and have a bottle for each plate. I like these two boys and
+think we can learn something from them. Come on, every one of you."
+
+They all laughed, shook hands with Bob, Fred and Allison and went
+downstairs and farther down the street to a well-known restaurant. There
+they had a royal feast for an hour. Dean became quite merry over his
+bottle and admitted that he knew Allison was one of the best posted men
+in the street, and was glad that he was to have one-half the amount he
+had lost. At that dinner the brokers became acquainted with Halsey &
+Company, and found that, though they were boys, they knew a good deal
+about taking care of Number One.
+
+
+CHAPTER X.--Fred Buys a Seat in the Stock Exchange.
+
+The accident in the banking house of Halsey & Company, by which a man
+lost his life, created a good deal of excitement in Wall Street. The
+prompt discovery of the forgery had the effect of convincing the Street
+that they were not to be victimized even if they were a couple of boys
+not yet out of their teens. The janitor of the building very promptly
+removed the blood stains and a glazier put up another glass in place of
+the one that was broken. The bank bad not been open an hour ere a
+carriage drove up in front and a tall, gray-haired man alighted and went
+in.
+
+"Ah, you are Mr. Gaines!" said Fred, on seeing him. "Come into the
+little office and sit down. I am very glad to see you out again."
+
+"Thank you, my young friend," said the old gentleman, following him into
+a little office and seating himself in a comfortable arm-chair. "I have
+called to thank you in person for the kind service you rendered me in
+the Stock Exchange that day. You saved my life!"
+
+"Mr. Gaines, I am glad I was able to do as I did," said Fred. "You sent
+me a watch and chain, which I prize very highly. I am sure I don't
+deserve any more credit than what you have already given me."
+
+"Well, I want to show my gratitude, for it is a pleasure to do so. Who
+is your broker in the Exchange now?"
+
+"We have no regular broker. We have engaged a different one for each
+deal we have made."
+
+"Would you like to have a seat there yourself?"
+
+"Yes, sir, but I am too young, I guess."
+
+"There is no limit as to age. If you are able to buy a seat you can have
+one."
+
+"But a seat is worth $30,000."
+
+"Yes. I have a seat. I am never going to use it again. I was badly
+squeezed that day in the Exchange, and lost many thousands of dollars.
+But I have enough to live and die on, and so intend to sell my seat. If
+you can pay $5,000 cash you can pay the balance in five years--$5,000 a
+year."
+
+"I'll take it," said Fred.
+
+"Very well. I can get $30,000 in cold cash for it, but don't care to let
+the man have it at any price."
+
+Fred gave him the money and the seat was duly transferred.
+
+"I wish you all the success in the world, my good friend," said the old
+man, rising and extending his hand to Fred.
+
+"Thank you, sir. I am deeply grateful to you for this favor. May I ask
+you a question?"
+
+"Yes, as many as you please," replied the old man, resuming his seat.
+"What is it?"
+
+"Is Mrs. Bryant a relative of yours?"
+
+"Yes. She is my niece. Why?"
+
+"Mr. Bryant and I don't love each other much, and I heard the other day
+of your relationship to his wife. I didn't believe it."
+
+"Yes, it's true. I heard you had some wool hung up and labeled 'Bryant's
+fleece.' Is it true?"
+
+"Yes," and Fred laughed. "I'll show it to you," and he did.
+
+"Bryant has been very sore over it, and so has his wife. I would advise
+you to take it down."
+
+"I shall advise Bob to do so. It is his fight, you know."
+
+"Yes, so I heard. Well, good-by. I shall drop in when I come downtown. I
+have no office now."
+
+"Oh, you must make this your office!" exclaimed Fred; "we have plenty of
+room, for we don't do much business as yet. Our rent is paid up for one
+year."
+
+"Well, I guess that's more, than any other firm in Wall Street can say,"
+and he shook Fred's hand. "I shall be glad to accept your offer, though
+I shall not come down often."
+
+He went out and Fred told old Allison that he had bought Gaines' seat in
+the Stock Exchange. The old cashier glared in astonishment, saying:
+
+"I'm afraid that you will make a mistake in going in there."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"People get excited there and lose both their heads and fortunes in a
+very few minutes."
+
+"Yes, I know. But I got used to that sort of thing when I was a
+messenger. It is not new to me."
+
+Broker Gaines had not been gone ten minutes ere Gertie Clayton came in.
+She had a frightened look in her face. Bob met her, and she said:
+
+"Oh, I saw it in the papers about the man being killed by the broken
+glass. It's awful, isn't it?"
+
+"Yes, indeed. Come to the ladies' room if you have any time to spare,"
+said Bob, who saw that something had happened.
+
+She followed him, and in the cozy little parlor said to him:
+
+"I can't go back to Mr. Bowles office any more, Bob."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"He told me this morning that Mr. Bryant's typewriter was sick, and that
+I would have to go up to his office to do some work for him. I said I
+was not working for Mr. Bryant and did not care to go to his office. He
+replied that he and Bryant were in a deal together, and that I must go
+and earn my salary."
+
+"The old brute!" exclaimed Bob. "Just stay right here. I can get plenty
+of work for you."
+
+"But I have no machine," she replied, and her eyes filled with tears.
+
+"We have got to have one some day and may as well have it now as at any
+other time. I'll get the money and you can go and buy one," and turned
+and went out to the banking room, got $100 from the cashier and went
+back to her.
+
+He found her with her face buried in her hands and sobbing as though her
+heart would break.
+
+"Why, what in thunder is the matter, Gertie?" he exclaimed.
+
+"Oh, Bob, I--I--you seem to be the only friend I have in the world."
+
+"Well, I'm much afraid that I'll stand by you till I can't breathe.
+Come, brace up. Here's one hundred dollars. Go and buy a machine. Get
+the best in the market. If that isn't enough, come back and get more.
+I'll let Bowles and Bryant both know that my girl can get on without
+them!" and he thrust the roll of bills into her hands as she spoke.
+
+"Bob, am I your girl?" she asked, looking shyly up at him through her
+tears.
+
+"Of course you are, unless you don't want to be."
+
+"You won't go back on me when you get rich, will you?" she asked.
+
+"Not much I won't."
+
+"There's my hand then," and she gave him her hand.
+
+He grasped it, squeezed it and did just what any other well-regulated
+boy would have done under such circumstances--kissed her on the lips.
+
+"Hello! Spooning, by George!" cried Fred, suddenly entering the room.
+"In business hours, too."
+
+Gertie hid her face in her hands, but Bob turned and replied:
+
+"This is very important business for me, Fred, and she---"
+
+"It is very pleasant business, I should say," said Fred, interrupting
+him with aggravating coolness.
+
+"Pleasant is no name for it," returned Bob. "We have just engaged to
+marry each other in two years."
+
+"Well, it jiggers me! She's a splendid girl. I congratulate you, old
+man!" and he grasped Bob's hand and shook it warmly.
+
+The second day after he bought his seat in the Stock Exchange Rock
+Island advanced to 90. Bryant was the kingpin in the Rock Island deal.
+He saw Fred watching the board which told how the stock stood. Rock
+Island stood at 92 when business for the day ended. Next day Bryant
+forced the stock up to 95, when Fred dumped his 15,000 shares on the
+market. Bryant had to take them. Then the price broke. A panic resulted.
+Bowles clutched Fred by the arm. Fred sprang nimbly out of his reach,
+and the old man fell prone to the floor, where he lay still like one
+dead.
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.--The Great Deal in Rock Island.
+
+During the lull that followed the fall of the old broker in the Stock
+Exchange the storm seemed to be gathering for a still more destructive
+sweep. A few friends took up the old man and bore him out. No sooner had
+they passed over the threshold than a roar like that of an angry sea
+burst forth. Bulls and bears seemed on the verge of personal violence.
+The price went up and down in momentary fluctuations, and men dropped
+out and flew from the room as if trying to overtake the fortunes that
+had slipped away from them. In the midst of all this din and confusion
+Fred Halsey stood where he could see Bryant and mark the effect of the
+blow he had given him. Down, down went the stock till 81 was reached.
+Then the gavel fell, and the battle was over for that day. Brokers
+Manson and Tracey rushed over to Fred and grasped his hand. Neither one
+had lost any fleece in the fight.
+
+"It was a terrible blow," said Manson.
+
+"The worst deal in the Exchange since I became a member," said Tracey.
+"You did wrong, my boy. You should have unloaded in a more cautious
+manner--one or two thousand at a time, As it was, you broke the corner
+and ruined half a hundred men."
+
+"They would have been ruined, anyhow," Fred replied. "Bryant would have
+dumped his load on 'em at par. I wanted to knock him out, and I think I
+succeeded. Will you two come over to my place a while?"
+
+They both declined and Fred went over alone. Allison grasped his hand as
+he entered the bank. He had heard the news. Callie, Bob and Gertie were
+in the private office when Fred went in to see them. Gertie sprang up,
+threw her arms about his neck and kissed him.
+
+"Hello! What's the matter?" he exclaimed. "What's up?"
+
+"Why, I am up--up in the world--up in spirits and the happiest girl that
+ever lived!" cried Gertie, and the next moment she was hugging and
+kissing Callie.
+
+"Oh, you needn't let up on me," said Fred. "I am not kicking on that
+sort of thing. What the deuce is the matter with her, Bob?"
+
+"I have just told her what her tip on Rock Island had made for her," Bob
+replied.
+
+"Ah! She will get a nice plum out of the pie. But look here, girls. If
+you give us away, there's no telling what may happen. It would do
+mischief, and a lot of it, too."
+
+"I won't say a word," said Gertie.
+
+"Nor will I," said Callie.
+
+"Well, let's see if girls really can keep a secret," and then he sat
+down and told how he had given Bowles and Bryant a deadly blow, and how
+the old man had to be carried out of the Exchange.
+
+"Great Scott!" exclaimed Bob. "I'd have given a thousand to have seen
+Bryant when he got it in the neck."
+
+"Oh, he was sick," said Fred. "You'd have to buy a bale of wool to hang
+up if you want to display his fleece."
+
+"That would be cruel," said Gertie.
+
+They all laughed and were a happy party. Fred sent out and ordered a
+carriage to take them off uptown, saying:
+
+"I don't want to meet any of those fellows to-day."
+
+"What are you afraid of?" Bob asked him.
+
+"I am afraid about ten thousand questions will be asked me."
+
+They rode uptown in a carriage for the first time since the bank was
+opened, and the two girls were delighted. The boys saw them to their
+homes and then had a quiet talk over the situation.
+
+"Mr. Allison has been guyed unmercifully about his kids, Bob," Fred
+said, "and he has stood by us like a father. Let's give him $5,000
+to-morrow as a token of our appreciation of him."
+
+"I am willing," Bob replied. "The old man is our friend."
+
+"Yes, indeed he is."
+
+The next morning, when the old cashier came to the bank, he shook hands
+with both of the boys, saying:
+
+"They made it pretty hot for me about my 'kids,' but I guess we have
+made it pretty uncomfortable for some of them."
+
+"I think we have, too," Fred replied. "Here's our check to you for
+$5,000 for the way you have stood by us."
+
+"The devil!" gasped the old man in dumfounded amazement. "Do you give me
+that?"
+
+"Yes, of course."
+
+He grasped their hands again.
+
+"Boys," he said, choking with emotion, "I--I don't know what to say. God
+bless me, I don't!" and he jerked out his handkerchief and blew his nose
+a half dozen times.
+
+"That's all right, Mr. Allison. We want you to grow up with us."
+
+"Call me pop, boys--call me pop after this--as my other children do,"
+and the old fellow had to wipe his eyes and his glasses.
+
+It did the two boys good to watch him. They had touched his heart and
+the stern old man of business had softened like a woman. But others
+began to come in. The papers told how the two boys had squeezed some of
+the strongest men in the street and scooped several hundred thousand
+dollars of their money, and men who had seen them often before now came
+in to look at them again. But Fred and Bob were quite busy in their
+little private office engaged in figuring up the result of the deal,
+leaving Allison to answer questions and receive congratulations. Over
+in the Stock Exchange the syndicate was busy trying to save further
+losses. Bryant was on hand, but Bowles was in the hands of his
+physician.
+
+"We were betrayed by somebody," Bryant said. "Those boys were posted by
+somebody in the deal and used as a blind."
+
+"That is a serious charge to make, Bryant," said one of the syndicate,
+"and we'll have to make an investigation to find out if there is any
+truth in it. The charge reflects on us all."
+
+"I have no idea who the guilty one is," Bryant replied. "I don't even
+know that the charge is true; but I believe that we were downed by a
+conspiracy in which one of the syndicate was engaged. Those boys are not
+deep enough to do what they did by their own account."
+
+"You forget that Allison is in their employ," said the other.
+
+"I don't think he had anything to do with it."
+
+Just then Fred entered the Exchange in search of a broker he wanted to
+see.
+
+Broker Tabor saw him, caught him by the arm and said:
+
+"Here, Halsey, I want to ask you a question."
+
+"Fire away," said Fred.
+
+"How did you get on to that Rock Island deal?"
+
+"Bryant gave it away."
+
+"Eh! What!"
+
+"Bryant gave the snap away," Fred repeated, and just then he saw the man
+he was in search of and went over to him.
+
+Tabor returned to where Bryant and other members of the syndicate were
+standing and said:
+
+"You were right, Bryant. One of the syndicate did give it away, and
+Halsey admits it."
+
+"Ah! Did he name the scoundrel?" Bryant asked.
+
+"Yes. I asked him how he got on to it, and he said 'Bryant gave it
+away.'"
+
+Bryant gave a start as if stung and dashed across the room to where Fred
+was standing, grabbed him by the collar and hissed in his face:
+
+"Did you say I gave the Rock Island deal away?"
+
+"Yes, but you didn't mean to do it."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+Brokers crowded around them.
+
+"On the very day you began buying I was standing near you, and heard you
+say, 'I'll take all I can get of that stock.' I knew then you were going
+to boom it, so I went off and loaded up for you. Mr. Barron bought the
+stock for you in less than thirty minutes after I heard you say that.
+Did I get any of your fleece?"
+
+Bryant hurled him from him and turned away.
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.--Fred Makes a Discovery.
+
+The great deal in Rock Island made the young bankers and speculators one
+of the best known firms in Wall Street. It was known that they had a
+vast sum of cold cash on hand, and that they had nerve and good
+judgment, and so scores of men came to them to buy and sell for them.
+Gertie Clayton received about $36,000 for the tip she had given them,
+and she left it on deposit in the bank.
+
+"Bob," she said to him a few days later, "I am not going to do any more
+typewriting. I was not made for the business, and never did like it."
+
+"What are you going to do, then?" he asked.
+
+"I'll tell you what I want to do," she replied, "I am engaged to a
+handsome young banker and we are to marry in two years. I think it is my
+duty to fit myself to be his wife by educating myself so he will be
+proud of me when we marry."
+
+"By George, Gertie!" Bob exclaimed, "your head is level. Get out of Wall
+Street and I'll come uptown and spoon with you every evening. I'll make
+enough for us both."
+
+"You dear, good Bob!" she said. "I knew you would look at it as I do.
+You do not know how happy I am. I am going to study music and make
+myself an accomplished young lady so our home will not be a dull one."
+
+She told Callie her reasons for giving up typewriting, and the latter
+said:
+
+"You are right, Gertie. I would do so, too, were I so fortunate."
+
+Just a few days later Eva Gaines came down with her uncle, the old
+broker, and was shown into the ladies' reception room with him. Fred and
+Bob received them with great consideration.
+
+"You have been making, things lively in the Street," the old broker
+remarked to Fred.
+
+"Yes, sir. I would like to pay you the balance I owe for the seat in
+the Stock Exchange."
+
+"Well, I am not in any hurry about it," was the reply. "You can do so if
+you wish, and my niece here will leave $10,000 with you to speculate
+with for her. That is what we came down to-day for."
+
+Fred looked at her without making any reply.
+
+"I don't think I ought to attempt anything like that yet a while, Mr.
+Gaines," he finally said.
+
+"Oh, I just know you could make a fortune for me in a little while,"
+said Eva. "You are fortunate in everything you do."
+
+"I have been very fortunate of late," he replied, "but I am more free
+with my own money than I would dare to be with other people's cash."
+
+"But that is just what I want you to do--use it as you would your own,"
+she urged.
+
+Fred shook his head.
+
+"I was a messenger with one of the heaviest men in Wall Street before I
+went into business for myself," he returned, "and I have never forgotten
+what I once heard him say to a lady who wanted him to use her money in
+speculation."
+
+"What did he say?" she eagerly asked.
+
+"He said women could not understand business; that with them success was
+the only test of merit; that he had invested money for two women and
+both had threatened to horsewhip him because their investment was not a
+success. He then declared that he would retire from business rather than
+handle a woman's money."
+
+The old broker laughed and said:
+
+"Young man, had I been as cautious in my younger days I'd have been
+worth many millions to-day."
+
+"But I don't know what to tell you to buy," she persisted.
+
+"Then you had better keep your money. There are plenty of men in Wall
+Street who would be glad to take your money and--keep it. But I am not
+one of them."
+
+"Well, you will let me leave it in your bank, won't you?"
+
+"Oh, yes. You can be a depositor," and she gave him the check which her
+father had given her. He gave it to Allison, who entered her name as one
+of the bank's depositors.
+
+When he returned to them Eva remarked that she was sorry he thought her
+capable of horse-whipping anybody.
+
+"I have never been able to understand a woman, and to tell you the
+truth, I am afraid of anything in petticoats."
+
+The old broker and his beautiful niece laughed till the tears ran down
+their cheeks.
+
+"Well, you'll use my money now, won't you?" she asked.
+
+"Yes, if you will tell me what to buy."
+
+"Oh, pshaw!"
+
+A few days after the Gainses left the bank Fred was going along Broad
+street when he saw a little crowd on the sidewalk listening to a young
+man explaining a gas-saving appliance. Fred took a great interest in the
+affair and after a while asked the young man to make a visit to his
+office and adjust one to his gaspipe. The young man did so the next day,
+and Fred saw it was a good thing. He asked the young inventor what he
+would take for the invention.
+
+"I only want to get a living out of it," answered the young man.
+
+"Well, I'll give you $10,000 for it."
+
+"It's your's," said the inventor.
+
+In two hours the papers were signed and the money paid. Then a patent
+was applied for and a plant secured for the manufacture of the machines.
+
+Several days later old Broker Bowles dashed into the room.
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.--Fred Makes an Unbusiness-like Loan.
+
+The moment the old man entered the little office Fred sprang to his feet
+and confronted him. There was something in the wrinkled old face that
+told of a terrible state of mind.
+
+"Mr. Bowles," said Fred, by way of breaking silence.
+
+"Yes, I am Bowles. I have come to see you and get the truth out of you."
+
+"Take a seat," and Bob pushed a chair toward him.
+
+"I want to know who betrayed us in that Rock Island deal?" he asked Bob.
+
+"No one betrayed you, Mr. Bowles. Fred saw Mr. Bryant buy the stock
+right along--all that offered--and so we decided that he was going to
+boom it. We bought 15,000 shares through Barron. That's all the
+betraying that was done."
+
+"That's a lie! It won't do! I know better than that! Tell the truth, or
+I'll choke it out of you!" and he glared fiercely at Bob.
+
+"Pitch in and do your choking before you forget it," Bob replied.
+
+The irate old man made a grab at his throat. Bob dodged back, and they
+both fell to the floor, their chairs upsetting with quite a clatter. In
+an instant Fred grappled the old fellow's legs and dragged him from Bob.
+Bob sprang to his feet, seized an inkstand on the desk and dashed its
+contents all over the old broker's face and bosom. Some of it got into
+his eyes and blinded him.
+
+Just then two brokers came in and separated them.
+
+"Who is it, Halsey?" one of them asked.
+
+"Mr. Bowles. He is away off his balance."
+
+The two brokers laughed at the plight of the old man. His best friend
+could not have recognized him covered as he was with ink. As if ashamed
+of what he had done, Bowles scrambled to his feet, hurried out of the
+office and made a break for his own quarters. But his appearance on the
+street caused a sensation. Some boys saw him, and set up a series of
+yells that brought a crowd about him in less than half a minute. An
+officer ran up, looked hard at him for a moment or two and then collared
+him.
+
+"That's all right, officer," the old man said. "Just a little accident,
+that's all."
+
+"But you can't draw a crowd and obstruct the street this way," the
+officer replied. "Who are you?"
+
+"I am Bowles, the broker. One of the oldest in the Street."
+
+"What! Are you Mr. Bowles?"
+
+"Yes; come to my office and see before more people gather."
+
+The officer went along with him, and when they appeared in the office
+the clerks were almost panic-stricken, such a frightful-looking object
+was he. The officer remained long enough to make sure he really was the
+old broker and then left. In a little while the old man sent for a
+carriage and was driven home, where he changed his clothes and got rid
+of the ink stains on his face and hair. But the Street got hold of it,
+though Fred nor Bob would not say anything about it. Some said the old
+man heard they had a bag of wool hung up in their office and went in to
+fan them out. They fanned him out and kept his fleece.
+
+Those who were in the Rock Island deal felt very sore over the way it
+had turned out, and it was a difficult matter for them to believe that
+some one in it had not betrayed them. But Halsey & Company had come up
+on top, and though but a couple of boys, the cunning old foxes of the
+Street saw that they would have to be reckoned with in the future. The
+weeks and months rolled on, and the gas machine was put on the market.
+Under the management of the young inventor the mechanical part of it
+worked without friction. Bob took charge of the office work, and soon
+had one thousand machines placed among the large consumers of gas, at a
+rental of from $5 to $10 a month each, producing an income of about
+$75,000 a year. Out of that sum they paid the young inventor $7,500 a
+year salary. One day Broker Tracey came in and begged Halsey & Company
+to sell him an interest in the gas machine, offering $50,000 cash for
+one-fourth interest in it.
+
+"Not for $250,000," said Fred. "It is a gold mine, and we think we can
+work it by ourselves."
+
+Tracey left, and soon after his departure Mrs. Bryant came in,
+accompanied by Eva Gaines. She asked to see Fred. He went to the ladies'
+room, and was received with smiles by both ladies.
+
+"Mr. Halsey," said the broker's wife, "I want to borrow $10,000 for
+thirty days. I see a chance to make money, but have none to do it with.
+Will you let me have it?"
+
+"What security have you to offer?" he asked her.
+
+"None; only my jewelry remains unmortgaged," and her eyes filled with
+tears as she spoke.
+
+"Do you want it for yourself or your husband?"
+
+"For myself. He has lost every dollar he had."
+
+"I am going to put that much into it, too," said Eva. "Let her have it
+for my sake, Mr. Halsey."
+
+"Will you indorse her note?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Very well; I'll let you have the money, Mrs. Bryant," and he made out
+the note and they both signed it. He gave the broker's wife the money,
+and they left the bank together.
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.--Fred Proposes to Callie.
+
+When the two ladies were gone Fred muttered to himself:
+
+"They made me do an unbusinesslike thing--because they are women. She
+brought Eva along to make sure I would not refuse her. True, Eva
+indorsed the note, but she is a minor, and so the indorsement is not
+worth a cent. I don't believe she has a tip. There's nothing doing in
+the Street now that I know anything about. I think it was for the
+benefit of her husband, and no one else. Sorry I didn't ask what the tip
+was since I have to take all the risks. Ah, here comes Callie!"
+
+Callie came into the little private office unannounced.
+
+"Mr. Bryant is in Bowles' power for $10,000, and a warrant is out for
+him. Mrs. Bryant came to the bank to fix it up, and Eva Gaines was with
+her. They could not do anything with Mr. Barron and I heard Eva whisper
+to Mrs. Bryant: 'Let's go and see Fred Halsey.' I got away as quick as I
+could so you may know what to do when they come."
+
+"You came too late, Callie," he said, shaking his head.
+
+"Have they been here?"
+
+"Yes,"
+
+"What did they do?"
+
+"They got $10,000 out of me."
+
+"You goose, you! You need a guardian, Fred Halsey!"
+
+"I guess you are right, and I believe I'll apply for one this very day."
+
+"What was Mr. Allison about?"
+
+"He doesn't know a thing about it. I couldn't refuse 'em, they came at
+me in such a way. If I had a wife, I think I would be safer in such
+matters."
+
+"So do I. You need one badly, young as you are," and she laughed saucily
+at him.
+
+"Well, let's call a carriage and drive to the mayor's office. He'll tie
+us up hard and fast."
+
+Her big brown eyes opened wide and stared at him.
+
+"Do you mean you want to marry me?" she asked.
+
+"Yes. You have more sense than any girl I know of."
+
+"Fred, if you love me and want me for that reason alone, I'll marry you.
+But if you want me simply for business reasons, I won't."
+
+"Callie, you sweet little goose, I've been dead in love with you for six
+months, and have asked myself a thousand times, 'Will she have me if I
+ask her?' and now I ask you--will you be my wife?"
+
+"Yes, Fred."
+
+"Do you love me?" he asked her impulsively.
+
+"Yes, yes. Oh, Fred, I am so happy now that I know you love me! I was so
+afraid you did not."
+
+Fred caught her in his arms and kissed her, saying:
+
+"Let's drive to the mayor's office at once, and---."
+
+"No, that won't do. We both have mothers who love us. They will be glad
+to know that we love each other. Let's wait a little while and have a
+quiet wedding at my mother's home."
+
+"How long do you want me to wait?"
+
+"Will a month be too long?"
+
+"Hang it, yes. Make it two weeks and it's a go."
+
+"Well, say two weeks, then."
+
+He kissed her again.
+
+"Hello! Spooning!" cried Bob, coming in at that moment.
+
+"Yes," replied Fred. "We got it bad," and he kissed her again.
+
+"Yum-yum!" said Bob. "Wish my girl was here," and he wiped his mouth and
+laughed.
+
+"Say, pard," said Fred, "we are going to hitch in two weeks."
+
+"Great Scott! Why such haste?"
+
+"Old age is coming on and we want all there is in life for us, eh,
+Callie?"
+
+"You are doing all the talking, Fred," Callie replied.
+
+Bob and Fred laughed, and Callie joined in finally. She was a very happy
+girl.
+
+"How about my position at Barron's, Fred?" she asked.
+
+"Give it up, of course. Do you know a poor girl who wants the place?"
+
+"I do," said Bob.
+
+"Who is she?"
+
+"A friend of Gertie's. She's a good one, too."
+
+"Well, let's see her before Callie steps down and out."
+
+"I'll tell Gertie about it to-night."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Oh, I must see Gertie myself. Let me tell her all about it," said
+Callie.
+
+Bob was with Gertie in her home that evening when Callie and Fred
+called. The two girls were soon planning for a double wedding, and ere
+they parted it was arranged that both should marry on the same evening.
+The young inventor of the gas-saving machine was now a frequent caller
+at the Halsey residence, for Adah was a beautiful girl, who was fast
+developing into a splendid woman. She was the magnet that drew him to
+the house. As he was studious, industrious, and withal a genius, Fred
+was glad to see an attachment growing up between them. Callie resigned
+her place as stenographer and typewriter for Banker Barron, and
+succeeded in getting Gertie's friend employed in her place. She and
+Gertie then proceeded to make preparations to marry the young bankers
+and speculators.
+
+In the meantime Fred was busy in the Stock Exchange, trying to find out
+what Broker Bryant was doing. He kept his eyes wide open all the time to
+see if he was working on any particular stock. But the burly broker
+seemed to have nothing at all to do. Fred noticed that he and old Bowles
+no longer spoke as they passed by.
+
+By that he knew Callie had got the story right, and that Bryant had
+escaped the old man's clutches only by paying up the last penny he owed
+him. He went to the old man and said he wanted to buy futures on P. & K.
+
+"How much and how long?" the old man asked.
+
+"Five thousand shares for ten days."
+
+The trade was made, and Fred then went quietly to work buying up the
+7,000 shares that were on the market. He bought at 67, in a few days he
+met Bryant on the street and said to him:
+
+"I want to see you privately if you feel like doing any business with
+me."
+
+Bryant was quite astonished, and asked:
+
+"Is there any money in it?"
+
+"I think there is."
+
+"Then I am at your service."
+
+Fred had a confidential talk with him, during which the broker admitted
+that Bowles had ruined him financially by getting a technical grip on
+him.
+
+"Well, I have got a grip on him, I think," Fred explained, "and if you
+want your revenge, you can have it."
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.--Conclusion.
+
+Fred sold him five hundred shares to give him a starter, the shares
+being for himself. In two hours the price went up to 70, and Fred saw
+old Bowles growing fidgety. The next day Fred sold five hundred shares
+more at 72, they going to himself. Then the brokers began to hustle for
+the stock, and found they could not get it. It went up to 82 before the
+day closed. Bowles was desperate.
+
+"See here, Halsey," he said to Fred, the day before the ten days were up
+on his 5,000 shares, "I want to settle that thing now. I can't get the
+stock at all."
+
+"Wait till it is due," Fred suggested.
+
+"To tell you the truth, Mr. Bowles, I haven't got that option. I sold
+it to another man."
+
+"To whom did you sell it?"
+
+"To Bryant."
+
+The next day the stock wont up to 90, and at that figure Bryant called
+Bowles for 5,000 shares of the stock. It is a rule of the Stock Exchange
+that where the stock sold cannot be delivered on demand the difference
+between the purchase and delivery prices shall be paid in cash. At 90,
+the difference was $23 per share, on 5.000 shares, making $115,000. When
+the settlement was made, Fred generously allowed Bryant one-half the
+profits. It put him on his feet again. The day after the settlement was
+made Mrs. Bryant and Eva Gaines called at the office and asked for Fred.
+
+"I have come to pay my note," she said to him.
+
+"It is not yet due," he replied.
+
+"No, but I have the money and want to pay it," and she laid down a big
+roll of bills as she spoke. Fred took the money and gave her the note
+she had signed.
+
+"Now, Mr. Halsey," she said, as she tore up the note, "I want to say to
+you that as long as I live I shall always have a feeling of lively
+gratitude toward you for your kindness to me in this matter. You are the
+one in all New York who would have loaned me that money."
+
+"I am not sure of that," he replied, shaking his head.
+
+"I am glad to know that you and Mr. Bryant are friends again," said Mrs.
+Bryant. "He said you helped him out in a deal against that odious Mr.
+Bowles the other day."
+
+"Yes, we did manage to give the old man the headache, I believe."
+
+"I was so glad when I heard it, for he is the meanest man in New York."
+
+"That's a pretty hard thing to say of any one," Fred remarked, laughing.
+
+They left the bank and Fred was smiling all over as he returned to his
+private office.
+
+"What will they think when they hear of the double wedding, I wonder?"
+said he to himself. "I ought to have told them all, but it won't make
+any difference, I guess. Hanged if I don't believe Eva Gaines would like
+to have me call on her. I wouldn't give Callie for a dozen of her. She
+is pretty enough, sweet enough and all that. But I think Callie has the
+best head of the two, and knows how to take care of money."
+
+At the appointed time the double wedding took place, and the four
+families drove to the parsonage in four carriages. The two brides never
+looked so beautiful, nor were the young grooms ever so proud as when
+they gazed upon them as they met in the parlor of the parsonage.
+
+They drove from the parsonage to Delmonico's for supper, where they
+remained two hours at the table.
+
+Young as they were, they did not put on any frills, but drove home after
+the supper, and began life like the sensible people they were.
+
+Thus ends the story of how two boys made their fortunes in Wall street.
+They soon became one of the strong institutions of the city.
+
+Halsey & Company frequently met with reverses, but their gains were far
+ahead of their losses.
+
+By the time they were old enough to vote they were rated as
+millionaires, and each was a father. They are now in the prime of life,
+and yet still known as the boy bankers.
+
+
+Next week's issue will contain "ALOW AND ALOFT; OR, THE DASHING BOY
+HARPOONER."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Halsey & Co., by H. K. Shackleford
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HALSEY & CO. ***
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