e
I just opened the door and fired the black-mailers out. The moment a
fellow came in, and handed me his card, and said he had proofs of two
kinds of articles in his pocket, one praising me, one damning me, I told
him to go and see my advertising agent, and if he wouldn't do that, then
to go to hell. That's the way you've got to talk in the City," he added,
as if in apologetic explanation.

Louisa looked impassively at her brother. "Oh, I've heard the expression
as far west as the Strand," she remarked.

"Well, then came the issue. That was last Saturday. You saw the
prospectus in Saturday morning's papers, and in the weeklies. The
list was to be kept open, it said, till Wednesday morning--that was
yesterday. That is to say, during all that time, people could apply for
shares."

"Which they didn't do--according to your account," the sister suggested,
dryly.

Thorpe passed his fingers through his roughened hair, and eyed her with
a momentary quizzical gleam in his eye. Then he became serious again.
The recollection of what he was now to narrate brought a frown to his
brows.

"On Tuesday afternoon," he began, with portentous deliberation--"Or no,
first I must explain something. You see, in bringing out a company, you
can't put up too stout a bluff. I mean, you've got to behave as if
you were rolling in wealth--as if everything was coming your way, and
fortunes were to be made by fastening to you. I don't know that it often
fools anybody very much, but it's part of the game, and you must play
it. Well, accordingly, my Broker goes on 'change Saturday morning, and
has his jobber shout out that he'll buy 'Rubber Consols'--that's what
our shares are called on the street--at an eighth premium; that is to
say, he offered to buy for twenty-two-and-six what we were offering to
the public for twenty shillings. Of course, you see, the object of that
was to create the impression that there was a regular God-almighty
rush for our shares. As I say, I don't know whether that ever fooled
anybody--but at least there was the chance that it might start up some
dealing in the shares--and all those things help. Besides, you got the
sales noticed in the papers, and that might start up applications from
the public. Well, the Broker bought 1,000 shares this way on Saturday.
On Monday, when it might still be possible to change the luck, he bought
3,500 more, still at that premium of an eighth. He bought some Tuesday
morning too--say 4,000.