"'At seven-eighths, sell Rubber Consols! Sell five
hundred Rubber at seven-eighths! Sell five hundred
at three-quarters! At three-quarters you have 'em!
Rubber Consols! Sell a thou. at three-quarters!'

"This thing went into my brain like a live coal. I stopped
and looked up at the fellow--and by God, it was one of the men
I've been talking about--one of those Kaffir scoundrels.
I wish I was better at remembering names--but I knew his face.
There were some of the others around him, and they
laughed at me, and he laughed at me. Oh, they had a heap
of fun out of me--for a minute or two. Pretty good fun,
too! I guess they'll remember it quite a while."

"Go on!" Louisa adjured him. The obvious proximity
of the dramatic climax drew her forward in her chair,
and brought a glow of expectation to her eyes.

"I got myself away from that crowd somehow--l think I
was afraid if I stayed I'd strangle the one who was
shouting on the steps--and I went toward my office.
But when I got to the door, I didn't have the courage
to go in. I'd furnished it better, I suppose, than any
other office in Austin Friars, and I had a kind of feeling
that the sight of those carpets, and oak-tables and desks,
and brass-railings and so on would make me sick.
I owed for 'em all, bear in mind----"

"But--Joel," the sister interposed. "One thing