Lincoln High School - Cardinal Yearbook (Portland, OR)

Page 17 text:

THE LEDGER I:Thirteen Garth hurried on in a cold sweat-Ford empty- ing Coldspot Steel on the market. There was something wrong with the stock. That meant a fortuneg Garth held two hundred thousand shares. He hurried to his office and studied the ticker. There was as yet no indication. He immediately placed ten thousand shares on sale. During the past month Edgar Wallace, through another broker, had been buying Coldspot Steel from the smaller investors, until now he had ap- proximately a hundred thousand shares. It was well known that Henry Ford possessed four hundred thousand, and not nearly so well known to any but Wallace that Garth owned two hundred thousand. Eight hundred thousand shares were scattered over the Wall Street district among minor holders. Wallace immediately called up his broker. Mfhrow every share of Coldspot on the market at once, he ordered. At eleven o'clock Garth still feverishly pulling the tape from the ticker found that Coldspot Steel had dropped two points. Over a hundred thousand shares were on the market. He called one of his assistants. Empty Coldspot Steel, he ordered. The market was flooded. At noon the stock had dropped from -1-8 to 39145 it fell steadily through- out the afternoon, 37, 35, 34, 33Kg. The rumor became current, Ford was the only owner who could throw so much on the market at once. There was something wrong with the stock. When the exchange closed in the afternoon there were seven hundred thousand shares for sale and the price was 32. Throughout the long day Wallace worked frant- ically. He borrowed to the limit of his credit from every bank where he was known. He mortgaged his home and landsg he even borrowed from his friends. VVhen the exchange opened the next morn- ing he bought five hundred thousand shares of Coldspot Steel at 32. With electrifying suddenness the news spread. Someone was buying Coldspot Steel. Simultaneously there came a telegram from Henry Ford denying that he was selling. The price shot up again with lightning like rapidity. Wallace made a personal call upon Garth early in the forenoon. ' I have a couple hundred thousand shares of Coldspot Steel, formerly belonging to you that I thought you might like to buy at par. The stock is good, and you'll only be losing S300,000. Garth groaned, Oh, I'll admit you bled me for plenty. I'll take back what I said about you, but you played dirty doing it. Your work wouldn't stand the light of a court. Wallace smiled, Oh, by the way! he said politely, one reason that I came in person this morning was to find out why you so suddenly threw all your stock on the market. You must have had some tip. May I ask what? Then there's an- other little matter we did not settle before- Garth remembered where he got his informa- tion. Oh, you're clever, he exploded. You're too clever .... But youlll never marry a daughter of mine. Wallace heaved a sigh. 'lWell, that's settled. I was afraid you might want to sue me for breach of promise, just to get even. I am glad you feel that way about it. You know Iive sort of taken a lik- ing to the brand of gum my stenographer chews. I've just made up my mind to ask you to be best man. Oh, you refuse? I am so sorry. Well, I ex- tend you a hearty invitation nevertheless. Here, here! Garth came out of his near-apo- leptic fit with a growl, You've got no witness that I said that. I tell you I will sue you. Oh, in a case like that, Wallace returned with a bored air, I suppose I will have to marry Genevieve after all. Perhaps you will be so kind as to set the date ? FETE 8

Page 16 text:

Twelvel THE LEDGER That night at one of his clubs Wallace came to the realization that he had promised to prove false the statements of Osmond Garth. The only satis- factory way of doing this would be to put something over on Garth himself. Edgar Wallace was facing a stupendous task. He checked over their respective armaments. The only thing which Garth had and he had not was a broad business experience, the only thing which he had and Garth had not was imagination. He had plenty of imagination-he was sure of that -in fact Garth had told him so when he had asked for the hand of Genevieve. It was to be a battle between imagination and hard headed business prin- ciples. Two days later Garth received the following letter: Dear Sir: lt may be of some interest to you that I have decided to wreck your business. Hoping you are the same, I am, Your obedient servant, Edgar O. Wallace. ol - ..m,5,xi, ., A week passed and another letter appeared. It read: In case you are ever in need of expert ad- vice on business questions we sincerely hope you will not overlook the offices of Edgar O. Wallace. These are soon to be opened on your floor, and we trust that we shall have your patronage. You are doubtless well acquainted with the type of business we intend to operate. Sin- cerely yours. The latter letter made Garth irritable for a whole forenoon, but soon after he forgot it. He was quite pointedly reminded of it again, however, when one morning he found on his way to his office a neat black sign on the door down the hall, Edgar O. Wallace, Broker . He felt that Wallace might have been more truthful if he had had it printed Breaker , but he passed on hurriedly and slammed his own door so hard that it almost caused the word Garth to jump from its glass panelling. The following day he noticed through a door that had been left slightly ajar a corps of stenographers, clerks, and bookkeepers that would have put his own crew to shame. All were busily engaged, and the whole office seemed permeated with a spirit of industry and prosperity. After the first ten days this always busy office began to make him nervous. Not once since the business had opened had he heard of any transac- tion in which Wallace had figured, yet the people inside were always at work, typing records, or mak- ing entries in big books, and the door was always open so he could see. He began to worry. Perhaps Edgar Wallace did mean something by his threat to get even, to break him. He had no real faith in his opponent's abilities, yet the dread of the unknown made him ill at ease. On the morning of about the thirty-seventh day he heard the voice of Wallace from within his private sanctum. The door was ever so slightly open-just enough that a quiet voice might be heard by an alert listener. Disregarding the fact that it is considered un- ethical to eavesdrop, he stopped. It seemed that Wallace was dictating a letter. Garth did not realize that this was the third time that Wallace had dictated that same letter for the benefit of no other person than Osmond Garth, nor did it occur to him that he was standing upon a mat beneath which there was a switch operating a microscopic buzzer inside the room. The letter read: .... And Further, l would like to inform you that Henry Ford is selling Coldspot Steel. This is not as yet generally known, but will become evi- dent Within the next few days. Throw all the Coldspot you have on the market for it is sure to take a tremendous fall when Ford's stock ap- pears .....

Page 18 text:

Fourteenil THE LEDGER O L D A N T H O NY SIEGFRIED ROSEN Hello, I said to my friend the druggist, after I had returned from my journey. And where's Old Anthony? I asked in feigned anxiety. Aw, yu don't need to be a-tryin' to 'pear so troubledf' squeaked a falsetto voice from behind a dirty green curtain at the rear of the pharmacy. I know you're back an' I'll be out in a jiffy ef you are reely a-dyin' to see me so. I winked merrily at my friend, who grinned in return. We started a conversation, but were soon interrupted by a painful screech caused by the violent backward jerk of a dirty curtain, the rings of which plaintively traveled along its rusty iron bar. A tall, gnarled, white-haired old man made his sudden appearance. His colorless face was narrow and his thin, sharply curved nose stood out as promi- nently as a tree stands on an otherwise barren field. His dull grey eyes were almost expression- less and his lips were pale. His was the voice that had uttered those welcoming words in that strangely piercing tone. He concentrated his eyes upon me and, having satisfied himself, advanced slowly. Can't even be alone five minutes without bein' pestered and-well, why don't yu say something? he demanded querulously. Don't yu know an old man's time is waluable ? You didn't say hello, after my long absence, too, I said in apparent injury. I did. I said hello. I said it five or six times. I 'member hearin' me say it, he prevaricated. But I didn't hear you, I complained. Well, I'll do it again, then. Hello! he said grudgingly. Now, are yu satisfied ?', I nodded. Ef yu ain't nothing 'portant to say I might as well go. I can't afford to waste my time, he piped insinuatingly, and then chalrically stalked away. I heard the dirty curtain angrily jerk and the old chair into which he evidently had thrown him- self creakingly object. I smiled at the druggist, who gravely regarded me. Probably he was mystified because I had not lost my temper at the old man's irascibilityg prob- ably he was deliberating whether to impart a secret to me or not. I guessed the latter. Whatever it was, I saw that as he was in this mood of deep meditation, it was an opportune time to ask him something that had long perplexed me. I first made sure, however, that old Anthony could not hear us. You once told me that you had hired Anthony about five years ago because you were badly in need of an assistant. Surely of all men, Anthony is the least helpful. He is exceedingly old' and lament- ably weak. It is even ihhuman to permit him to labor more than slightly. I know he is no relation of yours, nor has he a claim upon you. Why, there- fore, have you retained him this long? I did not need a man for manual work or I should not, of course, have employed him. All that I required was a person to assort herbs, and as this was an easy task I thought I might accom- modate him. Assort herbs! I exclaimed. He assort herbs? How incongruousl He can't see well enough to distinguish the differences between them and even if he could discriminate cautiously, his trembling hands would not allow, him infallibly to separate each from its fellows. His help, however sincerely given, would be obviously worthless. I stopped short. Suddenly a thought came to me that revealed everything. U Ohl I see it now. You are giving him charity. You know that he would not accept it if he were aware of it. He is so haughty and takes such pride in being what he believes, independent. He once loftily boasted to me of that fact. Therefore, to quiet his scruples you engaged him to do this and thereby allay any suspicion of his that he was ac- cepting charity. My friend blushed as guiltily as if he had been convicted of some great crime. He deprecated his action and sought to turn the subject. But I was obdurate. Hasn't he any relatives? I asked. Yes, he is continuously disturbed by a wealthy Eastern relative whose conscience refuses to allow him to see an aged kinsman of his laboring for sus- tContinued on Page 503