Then Mr. Belcher knew that trouble was brewing, and braced himself to
meet it. In less than forty-eight hours, Balfour would know, either that
he had been deceived by Benedict, or that a forgery had been committed.
Balfour was cautious, and would take time to settle this question in his
own mind.

CHAPTER XXIV.

WHEREIN THE GENERAL LEAPS THE BOUNDS OF LAW, FINDS HIMSELF IN A NEW
WORLD, AND BECOMES THE VICTIM OF HIS FRIENDS WITHOUT KNOWING IT.

For several weeks the General had been leading a huge and unscrupulous
combination for "bearing" International Mail. The stock had ruled high
for a long time--higher than was deemed legitimate by those familiar
with its affairs--and the combination began by selling large blocks of
the stock for future delivery, at a point or two below the market. Then
stories about the corporation began to be circulated upon the street, of
the most damaging character--stories of fraud, peculation, and rapidly
diminishing business--stories of maturing combinations against the
company--stories of the imminent retirement of men deemed essential to
the management. The air was full of rumors. One died only to make place
for another, and men were forced to believe that where there was so much
smoke there must be some fire. Still the combination boldly sold. The
stock broke, and went down, down, down, day after day, and still there
were strong takers for all that offered. The operation had worked like a
charm to the point where it was deemed prudent to begin to re-purchase,
when there occurred one of those mysterious changes in the market which
none could have foreseen. It was believed that the market had been
oversold, and the holders held. The combination was short, and up went
the stock by the run. The most frantic efforts were made to cover, but
without avail, and as the contracts matured, house after house went down
with a crash that startled the country. Mr. Belcher, the heaviest man
of them all, turned the cold shoulder to his confreres in the stupendous
mischief, and went home to his dinner one day, conscious that half a
million dollars had slipped through his fingers. He ate but little,
walked his rooms for an hour like a caged tiger, muttered and swore to
himself, and finally went off to his club. There seemed to be no way in
which he could drown his anger, disappointment, and sense of loss,
except by a debauch, and he was brought home by his faithful Phipps at
the stage of confide