“Have you been speculating lately?” “Oh, no. I possess neither the brains nor knowledge requisite for success in the city.” “Brains and knowledge are at a discount just now. What is needed is cash. The biggest fool with ready cash can do more at this moment than the wisest man with a world of knowledge.” “Then I’d better jump into the turmoil,” said Stranleigh, smiling. “Take my advice, and keep out of it. There are rocks ahead. I see by to-night’s papers that Conrad Schwartzbrod has gone under, and has carried down with him six or seven men who are considered the most acute financiers in the city. In ordinary times their standing might be supposed unimpeachable.” “Schwartzbrod bankrupt! Then it must be a fraudulent bankruptcy, surely?” “No, it isn’t. Everything has been swept away. He’s had no time to hedge, or you may depend upon it he would have done so.” “Corbitt, what’s the cause of the whole thing? Can’t a man of your powerful intellect make it plain as A B C to an infant of my caliber?” “The cause is simple enough. It is the attempt to do the right thing in the wrong way. The cause is the Bank of England’s Gold Reserve Act, passed last May, and coming into force on the first of January next year. This Act makes it obligatory on the Bank of England to hold a reserve of a hundred millions in gold, where formerly it has only held, say, thirty millions. Do you understand so far?” “Yes, Corbitt, I do. In fact, I remember last May picking up by wireless telegraphy part of the speech of the Chancellor of the Exchequer on this very bill, but I didn’t understand it then, and don’t now.”