treet if it were listening to
me. But you will, and Wall Street will too, before many days go by. Now I
must be off. I have work to do."

He put on his hat and left me trying to puzzle out just what he meant.

Next day the Sugar bulls had the centre of the Stock Exchange stage. All
day long they tossed Sugar from one to another as though each thousand
shares had been a wisp of hay instead of $200,000--for soon after the
opening it soared to 200. The "System's" cohorts were in absolute control,
with Barry Conant never a minute away from the Sugar-pole, always on the
alert to steer the course of prices when they threatened to run away on
the up or the down side. It was evident to the expert readers of the tape
that the "System" was currying its steed for an exceptionally brilliant
run. Ike Bloomstein, the Average Fiend, who for forty years had kept close
track of every movement on the floor, and who would bet anything, from his
Fifth Avenue mansion to his overripe boardroom straw hat, that all stocks
and movements were as strictly subject to the law of averages as are the
tides to the moon and sun, remarked to Joe Barnes, the loan expert:

"'Cam' unt de Keroseners are pudding up egstra dop rails to dot wool-pen
deh haf ben pilding since deh took Pop Prownlee and deh Rantolphs into
gamp. Unless my topesheet goes pack on me, for deh first dime in forty
years dere vill pe a record clip pefore a veek from to-tay."

"I am with you there, Ike," answered Joe. "If Barry Conant's knife-edged
teeth ever spelt a killin', they do to-day. I just got orders from
somewhere to drop call money from four to two and a half per cent., and
they have given me ten millions to drop it with and the order is to favour
Sugar as 'collat.' Some one is anxious to make it easy for the bleaters to
get the coin to buy all the Sugar they want. Ike, you and I might make
turkey money for Thanksgiving if we only knew whether Barry and his bunch
were going to shoot her up thirty or forty points before they turned the
bag upside down, or whether they will bury them from 200 to 150. What do
you think?"

"I gant make out, aldo I haf vatched dem sharp all day. Dey certainly haf
deh lambs lined up right now for any vey dey vont to twist id. I nefer see
a petter market for a deluge. From Barry's movements all day I should say
dey vould keep hoistin' her until apout noon to-morrow, unt dat deh might
get her up to two-tirty or even to deh two-fifty. Put dere are v