be buying--that's sure. Beyond that--well, ask Rivers to show you the
ropes. Don't you ever lose for me, though. That's the cardinal sin in
this office." He grinned maliciously, even if kindly, at that.

Cowperwood understood--none better. This subtle world appealed to him.
It answered to his temperament.

There were rumors, rumors, rumors--of great railway and street-car
undertakings, land developments, government revision of the tariff, war
between France and Turkey, famine in Russia or Ireland, and so on. The
first Atlantic cable had not been laid as yet, and news of any kind from
abroad was slow and meager. Still there were great financial figures in
the held, men who, like Cyrus Field, or William H. Vanderbilt, or F. X.
Drexel, were doing marvelous things, and their activities and the rumors
concerning them counted for much.

Frank soon picked up all of the technicalities of the situation. A
"bull," he learned, was one who bought in anticipation of a higher price
to come; and if he was "loaded up" with a "line" of stocks he was said
to be "long." He sold to "realize" his profit, or if his margins were
exhausted he was "wiped out." A "bear" was one who sold stocks which
most frequently he did not have, in anticipation of a lower price, at
which he could buy and satisfy his previous sales. He was "short" when
he had sold what he did not own, and he "covered" when he bought to
satisfy his sales and to realize his profits or to protect himself
against further loss in case prices advanced instead of declining. He
was in a "corner" when he found that he could not buy in order to make
good the stock he had borrowed for delivery and the return of which
had been demanded. He was then obliged to settle practically at a price
fixed by those to whom he and other "shorts" had sold.