perished with those whom Shylock said "your
prophet the Nazarite conjured the devil into;" and the news of the world
in general was of secondary importance compared with the market reports.
After the purchase pork dropped off a little, and hung about the lower
figure for some time. Then it began to advance by degrees until the
quotation was a dollar above the purchase price.

John's impulse was to sell, but David made no sign. The market held firm
for a while, even going a little higher. Then it began to drop rather
more rapidly than it had advanced, to about what the pork had cost, and
for a long period fluctuated only a few cents one way or the other. This
was followed by a steady decline to the extent of half-a-dollar, and, as
the reports came, it "looked like going lower," which it did. In fact,
there came a day when it was so "low," and so much more "looked like
going lower" than ever (as such things usually do when the "bottom" is
pretty nearly reached), that our friend had not the courage to examine
the market reports for the next two days, and simply tried to keep the
subject out of his mind. On the morning of the third day the Syrchester
paper was brought in about ten o'clock, as usual, and laid on Mr.
Harum's desk. John shivered a little, and for some time refrained from
looking at it. At last, more by impulse than intention, he went into the
back room and glanced at the first page without taking the paper in his
hands. One of the press dispatches was headed: "Great Excitement on
Chicago Board of Trade: Pork Market reported Cornered: Bears on the
Run," and more of the same sort, which struck our friend as being the
most profitable, instructive, and delightful literature that he had ever
come across. David had been in Syrchester the two days previous,
returning the evening before. Just then he came into the office, and
John handed him the paper.

"Wa'al," he said, holding it off at arm's length, and then putting on
his glasses, "them fellers that thought they was _all_ hogs up West, are
havin' a change of heart, are they? I reckoned they would 'fore they got
through with it. It's ben ruther a long pull, though, eh?" he said,
looking at John with a grin.

"Yes," said our friend, with a slight shrug of the shoulders.

"Things looked ruther colicky the last two three days, eh?" suggested
David. "Did you think 'the jig was up an' the monkey was in the box?'"

"Rather," said John. "The fact is," he admitted, "I