its strength, and a blast of shouts and screams, a rush of struggling
men toward the one who had uttered the cry, and a waving of fists,
arms, and hats, suggested visions of lynching and sudden death.

After a little I was able to discover a method in the outbreaks of
apparent lunacy, and found that the shouts and yells and screams, the
shaking of fists, and the waving of arms were merely a more or less
energetic method of bidding for stocks; that the ringing of gongs and
the bellow of the big man who smiled on the bear-garden from the high
desk were merely the audible signs that another stock was being called;
and that the brazen-voiced reading of a roll was merely the official
announcement of the record of bargains and sales that had been going on
before me.

It was my good fortune to make out so much before the purchase of the
stocks on my order list was completed. The crisis was at hand in which
I must have my wits about me, and be ready to act for myself.
Eppner rushed up and reported the bargains made, handing me a slip with
the figures he had paid for the stocks. He was no longer the impassive
engine of business that he had appeared in the back room of his office.
He was now the embodiment of the riot I had been observing. His blue-
black hair was rumpled and on end. His blue-black eyes flashed with
animation. The blue-black dots that showed where his beard would be if
he had let it were almost overwhelmed by the glow that excitement threw
into his sallow cheeks.

"Any more orders?" he gasped. He was trembling with excitement and
suppressed eagerness for the fray.

"Yes," I shouted above the roar about me. "I want to buy Omega."