winds. Fortunes were made; intrinsic values were lost sight of in the
glare of great and sudden profits. Prices mounted up and up, and when
calmer counsels held that they had reached their limits all such
counsels were abashed by prices soaring higher still.

And the firm of Conward & Elden had profited not the least in these
wild years of gain-getting. Their mahogany finished first floor
quarters were the last word in office luxuriance. Conward's private
room might with credit have housed a premier or a president. Its
purpose was to be impressive, rather than to give any other service, as
Conward spent little of his time therein. On Dave fell the
responsibility of office management, and his room was fitted for
efficiency rather than luxury. It commanded a view of the long general
office where a battery of stenographers and clerks took care of the
detail of the business of Conward & Elden. And Dave had established
his ability as an office manager. His fairness, his fearlessness, his
impartiality, his courtesy, his even temper--save on rare and excusable
occasions--had won from the staff a loyalty which Conward, with all his
abilities as a good mixer, could never have commanded.

He had prospered, of course. His statement to his banker ran into
seven figures. For years he had not known the experience of being
short of money for any personal purpose. Occasionally, at first, and
again of late, the firm had found it necessary to resort to high
finance. This was usually accomplished by getting a bank so deeply
involved in their speculations that, in moments of emergency, it dared
not desert them if it would. There are ways of doing that. And always
the daring of Conward and the organization of Elden had justified
themselves. Dave was still a young man, not yet in his thirties; he
was rated a millionaire; he had health, comeliness, and personality; he
commanded the respect of a wide circle of business men, and was
regarded as one of the matrimonial prizes of the city; his name had
been discussed for public office; he was a success.

And yet this night, as he sat in his comfortable rooms and watched the
street lights come fluttering on as twilight silhouetted the great
hills to the west, he was not so sure of his success. A gas fire
burned in the grate, rippling in blue, sinuous waves, and radiating an
agreeable warmth on the May evening air. Dave finished his cigar and
stood by the window, where the stree