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Fame and Fortune Weekly No. 1: A Lucky Deal; or The 'Cutest Boy in Wall Street

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<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.</h2> PLAYING FOR A HIGH STAKE. “Millie,” said Jack, about Saturday noon, “mother and sister Annie have heard so much about you from Ed and I that they are very very anxious to know you. Will you dine with us to-morrow? I will come over to your house and fetch you.” Millie blushed a little as she looked at the handsome, stalwart young messenger, and hesitated what reply to make. “Well, Millie, is it yes?” “Yes, but on one condition,” she answered, earnestly. “All right; what’s the condition?” “You must answer me one question—truthfully.” “I agree to that. But do you think I would not answer truthfully any question you might ask?” he asked, reproachfully. “No, Jack,” she said, seizing one of his hands; “it isn’t that, but——” “Well?” “You may not want to answer this question in the way I wish.” “Try me and see.” “I know I have no right to be so inquisitive. It oughtn’t to be any of my business. I hope you won’t be angry with me. But, Jack, I’m afraid——” She stopped, and the boy thought he saw a tear glisten in her eye. “Promise me that you won’t be provoked with me?” she continued, impulsively. “Why, of course I promise you,” he said, greatly curious to learn what it was that affected her so deeply. “You have gone into the market again, haven’t you?” “Why, how did you guess?” he asked in surprise. “How? There are a dozen signs you have given which are quite plain to me.” “Well, I admit the fact.” “How much of your five thousand dollars have you risked on a margin?” she continued, with some hesitation. “How much? Almost the limit.” “Oh, Jack, I feared as much! You are so enthusiastic—so reckless!” “I’ll tell you the story and let you judge for yourself.” And he did. “Do you really mean that Mr. Hartz gave you that tip?” “That’s what he did.” “From what I have heard about him, he’s the very last man in Wall Street to do such a thing.” “The smartest men will sometimes make strange breaks, I’ve heard,” said Jack. “I believe Hartz wanted to do me a favor for that affair of Bird in his office; but I doubt if he really would have given me such a tip nine hundred and ninety-nine times of out of a thousand, for business reasons, you know.” “You bought seven hundred shares of D. & G. at sixty-three. What is it to-day?” she asked anxiously. “Last quotation when the Exchange closed at noon was eighty-one.” “Eighty-one!” exclaimed Millie. “A gain of eighteen points in less than six days! Why, you crazy boy, why don’t you sell?” “Because I expect it will go to ninety—to three figures, for that matter. Hartz’s corners are almost uniformly successful, I have heard.” “You foolish boy! They may quietly unload at any moment.” “I don’t think they will until the stock goes above ninety.” “Why?” she asked with astonished eyes. “I couldn’t explain to you, Millie, just why I believe so. I’ve been studying the ground. I’ve even found out several of the people Hartz has got in with him. Every one of them can write his check for a million, lose it, and not miss the loss.” “Why, how could you get such inside information?” “Simply by having something definite to start with—that was Hartz—and then by using my eyes, my ears, and my brains.” “Jack, you are either a wonder, or——” She didn’t complete the sentence. “Or a chump, eh?” he said, with a light laugh. “I intend to hold out for ninety-two, if the stock goes that high, as I feel sure it will, and over. That will return me a profit of twenty thousand dollars, which, added to my original capital, will make me worth twenty-five thousand dollars.” “Pretty good for a boy of——” “I was seventeen three months ago.” “Well, Jack, I earnestly hope that you will come out all right. But you are taking a terrible risk, and I shall be nervous till I know you have won out.” “It is understood I am to call for you to-morrow, is it?” “Yes, Jack, it is.” So Millie went to the Hazard flat next day and was introduced to Jack’s mother and sister, who were much pleased with her pretty face and sunny disposition. Ed came in soon after dinner, and the two boys and the two girls started up to the Bronx, where they spent a pleasant afternoon, wandering about with an occasional eye to a desirable vacant house that had the sign “For Sale” attached. “This is something like counting one’s chickens before they’re hatched, isn’t it,” said Jack, after they had inspected one very pretty place which seemed to answer all expectations. “I like this house; don’t you, Annie?” “Very much, indeed.” “Well, if things continue to come my way, I’ll come up toward the end of the week, maybe, and put a deposit on it.” “What’s the matter with doing it to-morrow?” chipped in Ed. “You’ve got five thousand dollars stowed away in the Citizens’ Bank. What do you want to wait for?” Which remark showed that Potter didn’t know everything. In other words, he didn’t know about his chum’s latest deal in D. & G. For reasons that he considered good and sufficient Jack had kept that fact from him. But he intended to keep his word to Ed and give him the profit of three shares, or what was practically equal to a hundred-dollar note. On Monday morning D. & G. opened at 81⅜. From this on, another pair of eager eyes in the office followed the rise of the syndicate stock. Millie was almost as excited over it as Jack himself. It reached and hovered around 90 all day Thursday. The pretty stenographer was so nervous she could hardly do her work, and twice she couldn’t refrain from scribbling the words “PLEASE SELL” in big capital letters on a slip of paper and passing it over to Jack with beseeching eyes. But the boy only smiled and never turned a hair. He had the nerve of the oldest and most successful operator on the Street. “It’s ninety-two or bust,” he said to her the last time. “But, Jack, it seems to be standing still to-day.” “Only resting to catch its breath for a fresh effort,” grinned the reckless messenger. Millie threw up her hands with a little gesture of despair, whereat Jack laughed and walked off. <hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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