第107章

The suicide of Charles Cressler had occurred on the tenth of June, and the report of it, together with the wretched story of his friend's final surrender to a temptation he had never outlived, reached Curtis Jadwin early on the morning of the eleventh.

He and Gretry were at their accustomed places in the latter's office, and the news seemed to shut out all the sunshine that had been flooding in through the broad plate-glass windows.After their first incoherent horror, the two sat staring at each other, speechless.

"My God, my God," groaned Jadwin, as if in the throes of a deadly sickness."He was in the Crookes, ring, and we never knew it--I've killed him, Sam.I might as well have held that pistol myself." He stamped his foot, striking his fist across his forehead, "Great God--my best friend--Charlie--Charlie Cressler! Sam, Ishall go mad if this--if this----

"Steady, steady does it, J.," warned the broker, his hand upon his shoulder, "we got to keep a grip on ourselves to-day.We've got a lot to think of.We'll think about Charlie, later.Just now...well it's business now.Mathewson & Knight have called on us for margins--twenty thousand dollars."He laid the slip down in front of Jadwin, as he sat at his desk.

"Oh, this can wait?" exclaimed Jadwin."Let it go till this afternoon.I can't talk business now.Think of Carrie--Mrs.Cressler, I----""No," answered Gretry, reflectively and slowly, looking anywhere but in Jadwin's face."N--no, I don't think we'd better wait.I think we'd better meet these margin calls promptly.It's always better to keep our trades margined up."Jadwin faced around.

"Why," he cried, "one would think, to hear you talk, as though there was danger of me busting here at any hour."Gretry did not answer.There was a moment's silence Then the broker caught his principal's eye and held it a second.

"Well," he answered, "you saw how freely they sold to us in the Pit yesterday.We've got to buy, and buy and buy, to keep our price up; and look here, look at these reports from our correspondents--everything points to a banner crop.There's been an increase of acreage everywhere, because of our high prices.See this from Travers"--he picked up a despatch and read:

"'Preliminary returns of spring wheat in two Dakotas, subject to revision, indicate a total area seeded of sixteen million acres, which added to area in winter wheat states, makes total of forty-three million, or nearly four million acres greater than last year.'""Lot of damned sentiment," cried Jadwin, refusing to be convinced."Two-thirds of that wheat won't grade, and Europe will take nearly all of it.What we ought to do is to send our men into the Pit and buy another million, buy more than these fools can offer.Buy 'em to a _standstill._""That takes a big pile of money then," said the broker.

"More than we can lay our hands on this morning.The best we can do is to take all the Bears are offering, and support the market.The moment they offer us wheat and we don't buy it, that moment--as you know, yourself--they'll throw wheat at you by the train load, and the price will break, and we with it.""Think we'll get rid of much wheat to-day?" demanded Jadwin.

By now it had became vitally necessary for Jadwin to sell out his holdings.His "long line" was a fearful expense, insurance and storage charges were eating rapidly into the profits.He _must_ get rid of the load he was carrying, little by little.To do this at a profit, he had adopted the expedient of flooding the Pit with buying orders just before the close of the session, and then as the price rose under this stimulus, selling quickly, before it had time to break.

At first this had succeeded.But of late he must buy more and more to keep the price up, while the moment that he began to sell, the price began to drop; so that now, in order to sell one bushel, he must buy two.

"Think we can unload much on 'em to-day?" repeated Jadwin.

"I don't know," answered Gretry, slowly and thoughtfully."Perhaps--there's a chance--.Frankly, J., I don't think we can.The Pit is taking heart, that's the truth of it.Those fellows are not so scared of us as they were a while ago.It's the new crop, as I've said over and over again.We've put wheat so high, that all the farmers have planted it, and are getting ready to dump it on us.The Pit knows that, of course.Why, just think, they are harvesting in some places.These fellows we've caught in the corner will be able to buy all the wheat they want from the farmers if they can hold out a little longer.And that Government report yesterday showed that the growing wheat is in good condition.""Nothing of the sort.It was a little over eighty-six."

"Good enough," declared Gretry, "good enough so that it broke the price down to a dollar and twenty.Just think, we were at a dollar and a half a little while ago.""And we'll be at two dollars in another ten days, Itell you."

"Do you know how we stand J.?" said the broker gravely.

"Do you know how we stand--financially? It's taken pretty nearly every cent of our ready money to support this July market.Oh, we can figure out our paper profits into the millions.We've got thirty, forty, fifty million bushels of wheat that's worth over a dollar a bushel, but if we can't sell it, we're none the better off--and that wheat is costing us six thousand dollars a day.Hell, old man, where's the money going to come from? You don't seem to realise that we are in a precarious condition." He raised an arm, and pointed above him in the direction of the floor of the Board of Trade.