his dry, uninterested tones.

"I heard that Decker was in the market for the stock," I said.

The blue-black eyes gave a flash of genuine surprise.

"Decker!" he exclaimed. Then his eyes fell, and he paused a moment
before replying in his high inflexible voice. "He might be."

"Is he after Omega, or is he just bracing up the market?"

"Excuse me," said Eppner with the cold reflection of an apologetic
tone, "but we never advise customers. Are you walking over to the
Exchange?"

In the Exchange all was excitement, and the first call brought a roar
of struggling brokers. I could make nothing of the clamor, but my
nearest neighbor shouted in my ear:

"A strong market!"

"It looks that way," I shouted back. It certainly was strong in noise.

I made out at last that prices were being held to the figures of the
morning's session, and in some cases were forced above them.

The excitement grew as the call approached Omega. There was an electric
tension in the air that told of the anxious hopes and fears that
centered in the coming struggle. The stock was called at last, and I
looked for a roar that would shake the building and a scene of riot on