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leave Chicago forever. There were those who would take over his

property in the interest of the city and upright government and

administer it accordingly.

Unfortunately, at this very time Messrs. Hand, Schryhart, and

Arneel were themselves concerned in a little venture to which the

threatened silver agitation could bode nothing but ill. This

concerned so simple a thing as matches, a commodity which at this

time, along with many others, had been trustified and was yielding

a fine profit. " American Match" was a stock which was already

listed on every exchange and which was selling steadily around one

hundred and twenty.

The geniuses who had first planned a combination of all match

concerns and a monopoly of the trade in America were two men,

Messrs. Hull and Stackpole--bankers and brokers, primarily. Mr.

Phineas Hull was a small, ferret-like, calculating man with a

sparse growth of dusty-brown hair and an eyelid, the right one,

which was partially paralyzed and drooped heavily, giving him a

characterful and yet at times a sinister expression.

His partner, Mr. Benoni Stackpole, had been once a stage-driver

in Arkansas, and later a horse-trader. He was a man of great force

and calculation--large, oleaginous, politic, and courageous.

Without the ultimate brain capacity of such men as Arneel, Hand,

and Merrill, he was, nevertheless, resourceful and able. He had

started somewhat late in the race for wealth, but now, with all

his strength, he was endeavoring to bring to fruition this plan

which, with the aid of Hull, he had formulated. Inspired by the

thought of great wealth, they had first secured control of the

stock of one match company, and had then put themselves in a

position to bargain with the owners of others. The patents and

processes controlled by one company and another had been combined,

and the field had been broadened as much as possible.

But to do all this a great deal of money had been required, much

more than was in possession of either Hull or Stackpole. Both of

them being Western men, they looked first to Western capital.

Hand, Schryhart, Arneel, and Merrill were in turn appealed to, and

great blocks of the new stock were sold to them at inside figures.

By the means thus afforded the combination proceeded apace.

Patents for exclusive processes were taken over from all sides,

and the idea of invading Europe and eventually controlling the

market of the world had its inception. At the same time it occurred

to each and all of their lordly patrons that it would be a splendid

thing if the stock they had purchased at forty-five, and which was

now selling in open market at one hundred and twenty, should go

to three hundred, where, if these monopolistic dreams were true,

it properly belonged. A little more of this stock--the destiny

of which at this time seemed sure and splendid--would not be amiss.

And so there began a quiet campaign on the part of each capitalist

to gather enough of it to realize a true fortune on the rise.

A game of this kind is never played with the remainder of the

financial community entirely unaware of what is on foot. In the

inner circles of brokerage life rumors were soon abroad that a

tremendous boom was in store for American Match. Cowperwood heard

of it through Addison, always at the center of financial rumor,

and the two of them bought heavily, though not so heavily but that

they could clear out at any time with at least a slight margin in

their favor. During a period of eight months the stock slowly

moved upward, finally crossing the two-hundred mark and reaching

two-twenty, at which figure both Addison and Cowperwood sold,

realizing nearly a million between them on their investment.

In the mean time the foreshadowed political storm was brewing.

At first a cloud no larger than a man's hand, it matured swiftly

in the late months of 1895, and by the spring of 1896 it had become

portentous and was ready to burst. With the climacteric nomination

of the " Apostle of Free Silver" for President of the United States,

which followed in July, a chill settled down over the conservative

and financial elements of the country. What Cowperwoodhad wisely

proceeded to do months before, others less far-seeing, from Maine

to California and from the Gulf to Canada, began to do now.

Bank-deposits were in part withdrawn; feeble or uncertain securities

were thrown upon the market. All at once Schryhart, Arneel, Hand,

and Merrill realized that they were in more or less of a trap in

regard to their large holdings in American Match. Having gathered

vast quantities of this stock, which had been issued in blocks of

millions, it was now necessary to sustain the market or sell at a

loss. Since money was needed by many holders, and this stock was

selling at two-twenty, telegraphic orders began to pour in from

all parts of the country to sell on the Chicago Exchange, where

the deal was being engineered and where the market obviously

existed. All of the instigators of the deal conferred, and decided

to sustain the market. Messrs. Hull and Stackpole, being the

nominal heads of the trust, were delegated to buy, they in turn

calling on the principal investors to take their share, pro rata.

Hand, Schryhart, Arneel, and Merrill, weighted with this inpouring

flood of stock, which they had to take at two-twenty, hurried to

their favorite banks, hypothecating vast quantities at one-fifty

and over, and using the money so obtained to take care of the

additional shares which they were compelled to buy.

At last, however, their favorite banks were full to overflowing

and at the danger-point. They could take no more.

" No, no, no! " Hand declared to Phineas Hull over the 'phone. " I

can't risk another dollar in this venture, and I won't! It's a

perfect proposition. I realize all its merits just as well as you

do. But enough is enough. I tell you a financial slump is coming.

That's the reason all this stock is coming out now. I am willing

to protect my interests in this thing up to a certain point. As

I told you, I agree not to throw a single share on the market of

all that I now have. But more than that I cannot do. The other

gentlemen in this agreement will have to protect themselves as

best they can. I have other things to look out for that are just

as important to me, and more so, than American Match. "

It was the same with Mr. Schryhart, who, stroking a crisp, black

mustache, was wondering whether he had not better throw over what

holdings he had and clear out; however, he feared the rage of Hand

and Arneel for breaking the market and thus bringing on a local

panic. It was risky business. Arneel and Merrill finally agreed

to hold firm to what they had; but, as they told Mr. Hull, nothing

could induce them to " protect" another share, come what might.

In this crisis naturally Messrs. Hull and Stackpole--estimable

gentlemen both--were greatly depressed. By no means so wealthy as

their lofty patrons, their private fortunes were in much greater

jeopardy. They were eager to make any port in so black a storm.

Witness, then, the arrival of Benoni Stackpole at the office of

Frank Algernon Cowperwood. He was at the end of his tether, and

Cowperwood was the only really rich man in the city not yet involved

in this speculation. In the beginning he had heard both Hand and

Schryhart say that they did not care to become involved if Cowperwood

was in any way, shape, or manner to be included, but that had been

over a year ago, and Schryhart and Hand were now, as it were,

leaving both him and his partner to their fates. They could have

no objection to his dealing with Cowperwood in this crisis if he

could make sure that the magnate would not sell him out. Mr.

Stackpole was six feet one in his socks and weighed two hundred

and thirty pounds. Clad in a brown linen suit and straw hat (for

it was late July), he carried a palm-leaf fan as well as his

troublesome stocks in a small yellow leather bag. He was wet with

perspiration and in a gloomy state of mind. Failure was staring

him in the face--giant failure. If American Match fell below two

hundred he would have to close his doors as banker and broker and,

in view of what he was carrying, he and Hull would fail for

approximately twenty million dollars. Messrs. Hand, Schryhart,

Arneel, and Merrill would lose in the neighborhood of six or eight

millions between them. The local banks would suffer in proportion,

though not nearly so severely, for, loaning at one-fifty, they

would only sacrifice the difference between that and the lowest

point to which the stock might fall.

Cowperwood eyed the new-comer, when he entered, with an equivocal

eye, for he knew well now what was coming. Only a few days before

he had predicted an eventual smash to Addison.

" Mr. Cowperwood, " began Stackpole, " in this bag I have fifteen

thousand shares of American Match, par value one million five

hundred thousand dollars, market value three million three hundred

thousand at this moment, and worth every cent of three hundred

dollars a share and more. I don't know how closely you have been

following the developments of American Match. We own all the

patents on labor-saving machines and, what's more, we're just about

to close contracts with Italy and France to lease our machines and

processes to them for pretty nearly one million dollars a year

each. We're dickering with Austria and England, and of course

we'll take up other countries later. The American Match Company

will yet make matches for the whole world, whether I'm connected

with it or not. This silver agitation has caught us right in

mid-ocean, and we're having a little trouble weathering the storm.

I'm a perfectly frank man when it comes to close business relations

of this kind, and I'm going to tell you just how things stand.

If we can scull over this rough place that has come up on account

of the silver agitation our stock will go to three hundred before

the first of the year. Now, if you want to take it you can have

it outright at one hundred and fifty dollars--that is, providing

you'll agree not to throw any of it back on the market before next

December; or, if you won't promise that" (he paused to see if by

any chance he could read Cowperwood's inscrutable face) " I want

you to loan me one hundred and fifty dollars a share on these for

thirty days at least at ten or fifteen, or whatever rate you care

to fix. "

Cowperwood interlocked his fingers and twiddled his thumbs as he

contemplated this latest evidence of earthly difficulty and

uncertainty. Time and chance certainly happened to all men, and

here was one opportunity of paying out those who had been nagging

him. To take this stock at one-fifty on loan and peddle it out

swiftly and fully at two-twenty or less would bring American

Match crumbling about their ears. When it was selling at one-fifty

or less he could buy it back, pocket his profit, complete his deal

with Mr. Stackpole, pocket his interest, and smile like the well-fed

cat in the fable. It was as simple as twiddling his thumbs, which

he was now doing.

" Who has been backing this stock here in Chicago besides yourself

and Mr. Hull? " he asked, pleasantly. " I think that I already know,

but I should like to be certain if you have no objection. "

" None in the least, none in the least, " replied Mr. Stackpole,

accommodatingly. " Mr. Hand, Mr. Schryhart, Mr. Arneel, and Mr.

Merrill. "

" That is what I thought, " commented Cowperwood, easily. " They

can't take this up for you? Is that it? Saturated? "

" Saturated, " agreed Mr. Stackpole, dully. " But there's one thing

I'd have to stipulate in accepting a loan on these. Not a share

must be thrown on the market, or, at least, not before I have

failed to respond to your call. I have understood that there is

a little feeling between you and Mr. Hand and the other gentlemen

I have mentioned. But, as I say--and I'm talking perfectly frankly

now--I'm in a corner, and it's any port in a storm. If you want

to help me I'll make the best terms I can, and I won't forget the

favor. "

He opened the bag and began to take out the securities--long

greenish-yellow bundles, tightly gripped in the center by thick

elastic bands. They were in bundles of one thousand shares each.

Since Stackpole half proffered them to him, Cowperwood took them

in one hand and lightly weighed them up and down.

" I'm sorry, Mr. Stackpole, " he said, sympathetically, after a

moment of apparent reflection, " but I cannot possibly help you in

this matter. I'm too involved in other things myself, and I do not

often indulge in stock-peculations of any kind. I have no particular

malice toward any one of the gentlemen you mention. I do not

trouble to dislike all who dislike me. I might, of course, if I

chose, take these stocks and pay them out and throw them on the

market to-morrow, but I have no desire to do anything of the sort.

I only wish I could help you, and if I thought I could carry them

safely for three or four months I would. As it is--" He lifted

his eyebrows sympathetically. " Have you tried all the bankers in

town? "

" Practically every one. "

" And they can't help you? "

" They are carrying all they can stand now. "

" Too bad. I'm sorry, very. By the way, do you happen, by any

chance, to know Mr. Millard Bailey or Mr. Edwin Kaffrath? "

" No, I don't, " replied Stackpole, hopefully.

" Well, now, there are two men who are much richer than is generally

supposed. They often have very large sums at their disposal. You

might look them up on a chance. Then there's my friend Videra.

I don't know how he is fixed at present. You can always find him

at the Twelfth Ward Bank. He might be inclined to take a good

portion of that--I don't know. He's much better off than most

people seem to think. I wonder you haven't been directed to some

one of these men before. " (As a matter of fact, no one of the

individuals in question would have been interested to take a dollar

of this loan except on Cowperwood's order, but Stackpole had no

reason for knowing this. They were not prominently identified

with the magnate. )

" Thank you very much. I will, " observed Stackpole, restoring his

undesired stocks to his bag.

Cowperwood, with an admirable show of courtesy, called a stenographer,

and pretended to secure for his guest the home addresses of these

gentlemen. He then bade Mr. Stackpole an encouraging farewell.

The distrait promoter at once decided to try not only Bailey and

Kaffrath, but Videra; but even as he drove toward the office of

the first-mentioned Cowperwood was personally busy reaching him

by telephone.

" I say, Bailey, " he called, when he had secured the wealthy lumberman

on the wire, " Benoni Stackpole, of Hull & Stackpole, was here to

see me just now. "

" Yes. "

" He has with him fifteen thousand shares of American Match--par

value one hundred, market value to-day two-twenty. "

" Yes. "

" He is trying to hypothecate the lot or any part of it at one-fifty. "

" Yes. "

" You know what the trouble with American Match is, don't you? "

" No. I only know it's being driven up to where it is now by a

bull campaign. "

" Well, listen to me. It's going to break. American Match is going

to bust. "

" Yes. "

" But I want you to loan this man five hundred thousand dollars at

one-twenty or less and then recommend that he go to Edwin Kaffrath

or Anton Videra for the balance. "

" But, Frank, I haven't any five hundred thousand to spare. You

say American Match is going to bust. "

" I know you haven't, but draw the check on the Chicago Trust, and

Addison will honor it. Send the stock to me and forget all about

it. I will do the rest. But under no circumstances mention my

name, and don't appear too eager. Not more than one-twenty at the

outside, do you hear? and less if you can get it. You recognize

my voice, do you? "

" Perfectly. "

" Drive over afterward if you have time and let me know what happens. "

" Very good, " commented Mr. Bailey, in a businesslike way.

Cowperwood next called for Mr. Kaffrath. Conversing to similar

effect with that individual and with Videra, before three-quarters

of an hour Cowperwood had arranged completely for Mr. Stackpole's

tour. He was to have his total loan at one-twenty or less. Checks

were to be forthcoming at once. Different banks were to be drawn

on--banks other than the Chicago Trust Company. Cowperwood would

see, in some roundabout way, that these checks were promptly

honored, whether the cash was there or not. In each case the

hypothecated stocks were to be sent to him. Then, having seen to

the perfecting of this little programme, and that the banks to be

drawn upon in this connection understood perfectly that the checks

in question were guaranteed by him or others, he sat down to await

the arrival of his henchmen and the turning of the stock into his

private safe.

Chapter XLVIII

Panic

On August 4, 1896, the city of Chicago, and for that matter the

entire financial world, was startled and amazed by the collapse

of American Match, one of the strongest of market securities, and

the coincident failure of Messrs. Hull and Stackpole, its ostensible

promoters, for twenty millions. As early as eleven o'clock of the

preceding day the banking and brokerage world of Chicago, trading

in this stock, was fully aware that something untoward was on foot

in connection with it. Owing to the high price at which the stock

was " protected, " and the need of money to liquidate, blocks of

this stock from all parts of the country were being rushed to the

market with the hope of realizing before the ultimate break. About

the stock-exchange, which frowned like a gray fortress at the foot

of La Salle Street, all was excitement--as though a giant anthill

had been ruthlessly disturbed. Clerks and messengers hurried to

and fro in confused and apparently aimless directions. Brokers

whose supply of American Match had been apparently exhausted on

the previous day now appeared on 'change bright and early, and at

the clang of the gong began to offer the stock in sizable lots of

from two hundred to five hundred shares. The agents of Hull &

Stackpole were in the market, of course, in the front rank of the

scrambling, yelling throng, taking up whatever stock appeared at

the price they were hoping to maintain. The two promoters were

in touch by 'phone and wire not only with those various important

personages whom they had induced to enter upon this bull campaign,

but with their various clerks and agents on 'change. Naturally,

under the circumstances both were in a gloomy frame of mind. This

game was no longer moving in those large, easy sweeps which

characterize the more favorable aspects of high finance. Sad to

relate, as in all the troubled flumes of life where vast currents

are compressed in narrow, tortuous spaces, these two men were now

concerned chiefly with the momentary care of small but none the

less heartbreaking burdens. Where to find fifty thousand to take

care of this or that burden of stock which was momentarily falling

upon them? They were as two men called upon, with their limited

hands and strength, to seal up the ever-increasing crevices of a

dike beyond which raged a mountainous and destructive sea.

At eleven o'clock Mr. Phineas Hull rose from the chair which sat

before his solid mahogany desk, and confronted his partner.

" I'll tell you, Ben, " he said, " I'm afraid we can't make this.

We've hypothecated so much of this stock around town that we can't

possibly tell who's doing what. I know as well as I'm standing

on this floor that some one, I can't say which one, is selling us

out. You don't suppose it could be Cowperwood or any of those

people he sent to us, do you? "

Stackpole, worn by his experiences of the past few weeks, was

inclined to be irritable.

" How should I know, Phineas? " he inquired, scowling in troubled

thought. " I don't think so. I didn't notice any signs that they

were interested in stock-gambling. Anyhow, we had to have the

money in some form. Any one of the whole crowd is apt to get

frightened now at any moment and throw the whole thing over. We're

in a tight place, that's plain. "

For the fortieth time he plucked at a too-tight collar and pulled

up his shirt-sleeves, for it was stifling, and he was coatless and

waistcoatless. Just then Mr. Hull's telephone bell rang--the one

connecting with the firm's private office on 'change, and the

latter jumped to seize the receiver.

" Yes? " he inquired, irritably.

" Two thousand shares of American offered at two-twenty! Shall I

take them? "

The man who was 'phoning was in sight of another man who stood at

the railing of the brokers' gallery overlooking " the pit, " or

central room of the stock-exchange, and who instantly transferred

any sign he might receive to the man on the floor. So Mr. Hull's

" yea" or " nay" would be almost instantly transmuted into a cash

transaction on 'change.

" What do you think of that? " asked Hull of Stackpole, putting his

hand over the receiver's mouth, his right eyelid drooping heavier

than ever. " Two thousand more to take up! Where d'you suppose

they are coming from? Tch! "

" Well, the bottom's out, that's all, " replied Stackpole, heavily

and gutturally. " We can't do what we can't do. I say this, though:

support it at two-twenty until three o'clock. Then we'll figure

up where we stand and what we owe. And meanwhile I'll see what I

can do. If the banks won't help us and Arneel and that crowd want

to get from under, we'll fail, that's all; but not before I've had

one more try, by Jericho! They may not help us, but--"

Actually Mr. Stackpole did not see what was to be done unless

Messrs. Hand, Schryhart, Merrill, and Arneel were willing to risk

much more money, but it grieved and angered him to think he and

Hull should be thus left to sink without a sigh. He had tried

Kaffrath, Videra, and Bailey, but they were adamant. Thus cogitating,

Stackpole put on his wide-brimmed straw hat and went out. It was

nearly ninety-six in the shade. The granite and asphalt pavements

of the down-town district reflected a dry, Turkish-bath-room heat.

There was no air to speak of. The sky was a burning, milky blue,

with the sun gleaming feverishly upon the upper walls of the tall

buildings.

Mr. Hand, in his seventh-story suite of offices in the Rookery

Building, was suffering from the heat, but much more from mental

perturbation. Though not a stingy or penurious man, it was still

true that of all earthly things he suffered most from a financial

loss. How often had he seen chance or miscalculation sweep

apparently strong and valiant men into the limbo of the useless

and forgotten! Since the alienation of his wife's affections by

Cowperwood, he had scarcely any interest in the world outside his

large financial holdings, which included profitable investments

in a half-hundred companies. But they must pay, pay, pay heavily

in interest--all of them--and the thought that one of them might

become a failure or a drain on his resources was enough to give

him an almost physical sensation of dissatisfaction and unrest,

a sort of spiritual and mental nausea which would cling to him

for days and days or until he had surmounted the difficulty. Mr.

Hand had no least corner in his heart for failure.

As a matter of fact, the situation in regard to American Match had

reached such proportions as to be almost numbing. Aside from the

fifteen thousand shares which Messrs. Hull and Stackpole had

originally set aside for themselves, Hand, Arneel, Schryhart, and

Merrill had purchased five thousand shares each at forty, but had

since been compelled to sustain the market to the extent of over

five thousand shares more each, at prices ranging from one-twenty

to two-twenty, the largest blocks of shares having been bought at

the latter figure. Actually Hand was caught for nearly one million

five hundred thousand dollars, and his soul was as gray as a bat's

wing. At fifty-seven years of age men who are used only to the

most successful financial calculations and the credit that goes

with unerring judgment dread to be made a mark by chance or fate.

It opens the way for comment on their possibly failing vitality

or judgment. And so Mr. Hand sat on this hot August afternoon,

ensconced in a large carved mahogany chair in the inner recesses

of his inner offices, and brooded. Only this morning, in the face

of a falling market, he would have sold out openly had he not been

deterred by telephone messages from Arneel and Schryhart suggesting

the advisability of a pool conference before any action was taken.

Come what might on the morrow, he was determined to quit unless

he saw some clear way out--to be shut of the whole thing unless

the ingenuity of Stackpole and Hull should discover a way of

sustaining the market without his aid. While he was meditating

on how this was to be done Mr. Stackpole appeared, pale, gloomy,

wet with perspiration.

" Well, Mr. Hand, " he exclaimed, wearily, " I've done all I can.

Hull and I have kept the market fairly stable so far. You saw

what happened between ten and eleven this morning. The jig's up.

We've borrowed our last dollar and hypothecated our last share.

My personal fortune has gone into the balance, and so has Hull's.

Some one of the outside stockholders, or all of them, are cutting

the ground from under us. Fourteen thousand shares since ten

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