“In the absence of express permission from my customer to tell you, I think it would be rather unbusinesslike to do so. That is all. You are familiar with the way the stock is held, and doubtless if you buy it, the certificates will inform you who it is who has sold them.” For some time the trustees, or rather Mr. Cartwright, toyed with the bait, trying to find out who was holding the other end of the line. Through the conversation you must imagine Mr. Meredith as Echo, sending back, with profound conviction, the last phrase of each of Mr. Cartwright’s sentences. There was some haggling over the price, some discussion of ways and means, and at last the two old gentlemen agreed to take the matter under serious advisement, and the stockbroker left them. “They promised to let me know in the morning,” Myers telephoned his customer a little later. “I think we’ve landed them all right.” Next morning he was able to verify his prediction. “I’ve got the check. They tried hard to make me tell them who you were, and they’re trying to guess now, from the names of the original holders on the certificates. They’re pleased clear through over the deal, though. They think it gives them a sort of a grind on Moffat.” John Bagsbury always began the celebration of the Sabbath day by a somewhat unsuccessful attempt to shave himself, and it was quite in the nature of things that when he came downstairs he should find the rest of the family waiting for him in the dining room. He glanced at the index column of the thick Sunday newspaper, which lay beside his plate, and then, instead of making his usual remark that he didn’t like to have the thing in the house and meant to discontinue his subscription, he turned quickly to the front page of the supplements. There in big letters across the sheet he read, “Pickering’s Lard Deal.” The article which followed was treated after the most approved principles of Sunday journalism. There was a miserable “half-tone,” which bore no resemblance to William G. Pickering, and there were spirited illustrations of the scenes on the Board of Trade when the bottom had mysteriously fallen out of the market. The subject was treated exhaustively. Other famous deals in lard were brought up for comparison with this one, and there was a detailed account of Pickering’s earlier exploits. And then at the bottom of a half column of seemingly learned comment upon the probable outcome was the statement that Bagsbury and Company was said to be in the deal with Pickering, and would no doubt see him through if possible, as they had already let him have a great deal of money.