f Schryhart,
went forward and sat down. The other great men found seats.

"Well, gentlemen," began Mr. Arneel, dryly (he had a low, husky voice),
"I'll be as brief as I can. This is a very unusual occasion which
brings us together. I suppose you all know how it is with Mr. Hull and
Mr. Stackpole. American Match is likely to come down with a crash in
the morning if something very radical isn't done to-night. It is at
the suggestion of a number of men and banks that this meeting is
called."

Mr. Arneel had an informal, tete-a-tete way of speaking as if he were
sitting on a chaise-longue with one other person.

"The failure," he went on, firmly, "if it comes, as I hope it won't,
will make a lot of trouble for a number of banks and private
individuals which we would like to avoid, I am sure. The principal
creditors of American Match are our local banks and some private
individuals who have loaned money on the stock. I have a list of them
here, along with the amounts for which they are responsible. It is in
the neighborhood of ten millions of dollars."

Mr. Arneel, with the unconscious arrogance of wealth and power, did not
trouble to explain how he got the list, neither did he show the
slightest perturbation. He merely fished down in one pocket in a heavy
way and produced it, spreading it out on the table before him. The
company wondered whose names and what amounts were down, and whether it
was his intention to read it.

"Now," resumed Mr. Arneel, seriously, "I want to say here that Mr.
Stackpole, Mr. Merrill, Mr. Hand, and myself have been to a certain
extent investors in this stock, and up to this afternoon we felt it to
be our duty, not so much to ourselves as to the various banks which
have accepted this stock as collateral and to the city at large, to
sustain it as much as possible. We believed in Mr. Hull and Mr.
Stackpole. We might have gone still further if there had been any hope
that a number of others could carry the stock without seriously
injuring themselves; but in view of recent developments we know that
this can't be done. For some time Mr. Hull and Mr. Stackpole and the
various bank officers have had reason to think that some one has been
cutting the ground from under them, and now they know it. It is
because of this, and because only concerted action on the part of banks
and individuals can save the financial credit of the city at this time,
that this meeting is called. Stocks are going