Fairy tales -- Parodies, imitations, etc.; Short stories, American
So the campaign went on over the Christmas season. Jack, by following
close on the heels of Midas or Moneypenny, it mattered little which,
secured inside information as to every deal of magnitude on Wall Street
whole days, and even weeks, before anybody else knew about it; and
having the resources of the Urban National to draw upon at need, he was
never at a loss how to finance himself. January came, and just as it
seemed as if K., T. & W. was about to be wiped out of existence came the
report that the property had been acquired by the San Francisco, Omaha &
Mott Haven crowd, and that its stock had been put on an eight-per-cent.
guaranteed-dividend basis. The quotation immediately began to soar.
K., T. & W. began to jump like a kangaroo. First it leaped to 30, then
to 68. On the tenth of January it opened at 128-7/8, and closed at 150,
where it stuck. For a time Jack waited for a further rise, but it failed
to come, and in February he sold one hundred and twenty thousand shares,
which had cost him on an average of $7 a share, for $150 a share,
realizing a profit of $17,160,000. Reference to his books showed that he
had drawn on the Urban National for a trifle over $1,250,000, which sum
he now started to return in the same laborious fashion in which it had
been acquired. Every day for a period of ten days the lad would put on
his invisible cloak, and at the cashier's lunch-hour would walk into his
office and deposit a great bundle of currency on his desk. Once he found
that gentleman, and the president of the bank as well, awaiting him, but
it made no difference. Secure in the concealment of his marvellous
cloak, Jack stood in the doorway and tossed the package of bills into
the room, hitting the astonished president of the bank himself squarely
in the stomach with it.
In this way complete restitution with interest was made, and on the
first of February Jack found himself clear of all obligations, with a
comfortable fortune of over $15,000,000 on his hands, which made any
further involuntary loans on the bank's part unnecessary; but what was
even better than this, the meteoric successes of the young millionaire
upon the Street brought him such renown that it was not long before the
powers began to take notice.
"That young man," said Colonel Midas, after watching him for a little
while, "is the most singularly astute person I ever met. I don't wish to
be vulgar, but he has been the nigger in every woodpile I have tackled
for six months. He knows what I am going to do almost as quick as I do.
We'll have to take him in the firm."
"He has a singularly keen premonition as to values," observed Mr.
Rockernegie. "I've half a mind to start a trust company and make him
president."
As for Mr. Moneypenny, after a year's experience at finding Jack at the
bottom of pretty nearly every scheme he went into, he made the following
observation to his daughter, as he pointed Jack out to her at the
opera--in his own box now--one night.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account