fellow, with frank and winning manners. He had met Alice Montague at
an affair a week or so ago, and he sent word that he was coming to
see her.

After dinner they sat and smoked, and talked about the condition of
the market. It was a time of great agitation in Wall Street. There
had been a violent slump in stocks, and matters seemed to be going
from bad to worse.

"They say that Wyman has got caught," said Curtiss, repeating one of
the wild tales of the "Street." "I was talking with one of his
brokers yesterday."

"Wyman is not an easy man to catch," said the General. "His own
brokers are often the last men to know his real situation. There is
good reason to believe that some of the big insiders are loaded up,
for the public is very uneasy, as you know; but with the situation
as it is just now in Wall Street, you can't tell anything. The men
who are really on the inside have matters so completely in their own
hands that they are practically omnipotent."

"You mean that you think this slump may be the result of
manipulation?" asked Montague, wonderingly.

"Why not?" asked the General.

"It seems to be such a widespread movement," said Montague. "It
seems incredible that any one man could cause such an upset."

"It is not one man," said the General, "it is a group of men. I