long since, but the firm still retained its original name. The house
was as old and as well established as any on the Board of Trade. It
had a reputation for conservatism, and was known more as a Bear than
a Bull concern. It was immensely wealthy and immensely important. It
discouraged the growth of a clientele of country customers, of small
adventurers, knowing well that these were the first to go in a
crash, unable to meet margin calls, and leaving to their brokers the
responsibility of their disastrous trades. The large, powerful Bears
were its friends, the Bears strong of grip, tenacious of jaw,
capable of pulling down the strongest Bull. Thus the firm had no
consideration for the "outsiders," the "public"--the Lambs. The
Lambs! Such a herd, timid, innocent, feeble, as much out of place in
La Salle Street as a puppy in a cage of panthers; the Lambs, whom
Bull and Bear did not so much as condescend to notice, but who, in
their mutual struggle of horn and claw, they crushed to death by the
mere rolling of their bodies.

Jadwin did not go directly into Gretry's main office, but instead
made his way in at the entrance of the Board of Trade Building, and
going on past the stairways that on either hand led up to the
"Floor" on the second story, entered the corridor beyond, and thence
gained the customers' room of Gretry, Converse & Co. All the more
important brokerage firms had offices on the ground floor of the
building, offices that had two entrances, one giving upon the
street, and one upon the corridor of the Board. Generally the
corridor entrance admitted directly to the firm's customers' room.
This was the case with the Gretry-Converse house.

Once in the customers' room, Jadwin paused, looking about him.