s
wet with perspiration and in a gloomy state of mind. Failure was
staring him in the face--giant failure. If American Match fell below
two hundred he would have to close his doors as banker and broker and,
in view of what he was carrying, he and Hull would fail for
approximately twenty million dollars. Messrs. Hand, Schryhart, Arneel,
and Merrill would lose in the neighborhood of six or eight millions
between them. The local banks would suffer in proportion, though not
nearly so severely, for, loaning at one-fifty, they would only
sacrifice the difference between that and the lowest point to which the
stock might fall.

Cowperwood eyed the new-comer, when he entered, with an equivocal eye,
for he knew well now what was coming. Only a few days before he had
predicted an eventual smash to Addison.

"Mr. Cowperwood," began Stackpole, "in this bag I have fifteen thousand
shares of American Match, par value one million five hundred thousand
dollars, market value three million three hundred thousand at this
moment, and worth every cent of three hundred dollars a share and more.
I don't know how closely you have been following the developments of
American Match. We own all the patents on labor-saving machines and,
what's more, we're just about to close contracts with Italy and France
to lease our machines and processes to them for pretty nearly one
million dollars a year each. We're dickering with Austria and England,
and of course we'll take up other countries later. The American Match
Company will yet make matches for the whole world, whether I'm
connected with it or not. This silver agitation has caught us right in
mid-ocean, and we're having a little trouble weathering the storm. I'm
a perfectly frank man when it comes to close business relations of this
kind, and I'm going to tell you just how things stand. If we can scull
over this rough place that has come up on account of the silver
agitation our stock will go to three hundred before the first of the
year. Now, if you want to take it you can have it outright at one
hundred and fifty dollars--that is, providing you'll agree not to throw
any of it back on the market before next December; or, if you won't
promise that" (he paused to see if by any chance he could read
Cowperwood's inscrutable face) "I want you to loan me one hundred and
fifty dollars a share on these for thirty days at least at ten or
fifteen, or whatever rate you care to fix."

Cowperwood i