As soon as Mr. Friendly had returned to his office from the meeting of the Board of Brokers, on the day I am speaking of, and, as is common, had laid open on his outer desk, for public inspection, the record of the transactions which had there taken place—in which he had carefully noted all those in the stock of the Morrison—he walked out into the street, where he encountered Mr. Spriggins, who, contrary to his wont, for some cause, had not been present at the board that morning. Mr. Spriggins is one of those gentlemen, whose conceit of himself supplies the place of education, manners, and intellect, and he accosted Mr. Friendly as follows: “Dan, what does all this speculation in the Morrison mean?” Mr. Friendly, whose polite manners encouraged the freedom of such men as his friend Bottomly, held in contempt the rudeness of impudence, and, instead of answering Spriggins, turned on his heel without noticing him. THE FEVER UP. Spriggins, who could never imagine the existence of such a feeling towards a gentleman like himself, attributed this treatment entirely to another motive; and knowing Mr. Friendly’s speculative character, he at once imagined that Friendly had a secret that he wished to keep, and improve for his own benefit, and he immediately resolved in his own mind to outwit him. Upon this impulse he hurried away to purchase all the Morrison stock he could get hold of—which he did at a large advance of price over the purchases of Mr. Bottomly; and when he had done so, exultingly told Mr. Friendly that he was “not to be come over.” “But never mind,” said he, “you can keep your secret now, Dan; but if you are so disposed, as you know what is going on, we will operate together.” Mr. Friendly was not disposed to embrace this offer, liberal as it was, and maintained such a reserve as excited still further the cupidity of Spriggins. Meantime, having heard of the operations of Eavesdropper, Mr. Friendly perceived that he had fairly put the match to a train that, if properly fed, would lead to an explosion. But he resolved that before it should happen, he would take good care of himself. LOAFERS.