Doddridge Knapp fought for the control of Omega, and the Decker syndicate fought as stubbornly for the same end. I was forced to admire the fertility of resource displayed by the King of the Street. He was carrying on the fight with the smaller capital, yet by his attack and defense he employed his resources to better result. The weakness of the syndicate lay in its burden of Confidence and Crown Diamond. Doddridge Knapp had sold out his holdings of both at a handsome profit, but, so far from ceasing his sales of these stocks, as I had expected, he had only begun. He suddenly developed into a most pronounced “bear,” and sold both stocks for future delivery in great blocks. He was cautious with Confidence, but his assaults on Crown Diamond were ruthless. At every session he sold for future delivery at lower and lower prices, and a large contingent of those “on the Street” joined in the bear movement. Decker and his brokers stood gallantly to the defense of their threatened properties and bought heavily. Yet it was evident that Omega, Crown Diamond and Confidence together made a little heavier burden than even the El Dorado Bank could carry. In spite of their efforts to buy everything that was offered, Crown Diamond “futures” fell to forty, thirty, twenty-five, and even twenty, closing at the afternoon session at twenty and three-fourths. But the King of the Street was less successful in his manipulation of Omega. Despite his efforts, despite the rumors that were industriously spread about of the “pinching out” of the great veins, the price continued to go up by leaps and bounds. The speculating public as well as Decker and Company were reaching out for the stock, and it was forced up ten and twenty points at a time, closing on Saturday afternoon at three hundred and twenty-five. “This is merry war,” gasped Wallbridge, at the close of the last session. “I wouldn't have missed this for five years of my life. Doddridge Knapp is the boy for making the market hum when he takes the notion. By George, we've had a picnic this week! And last Monday I thought everything was dead, too!” “Doddridge Knapp!” I exclaimed. “Is he in this deal, too?” Wallbridge looked at me in a little confusion, and mopped his head with comical abandon. Then he winked a most diabolical wink, and chuckled. “Of course, a secret's a secret; but when the whole Street's talking about it, you can't exactly call it a close-corporation secret,” he explained apologetically. I assured the stout little broker solemnly that Doddridge Knapp was to know nothing of my dealings. “I'll do anything for a good customer like you,” he gasped. “Lord, if it wasn't for the lying, where would the market be? Dead, sir, dead!” And Wallbridge shook his head merrily over the moral degradation of the business that chained his thoughts by day and his dreams by night.