e of my business, but--were you
planning to tackle Wall Street?"

Captain Elisha glanced, under his brows, at his new friend, and his eyes
twinkled.

"Didn't know but I might," he replied, solemnly. "Ain't got
any--er--tips, any sure things you want to put me on to, have you?"

"I have not. My experience of Wall Street 'sure things' leads me to
believe that they're sure--but only for the other fellow."

"Hum! I know a chap down home that made money in stocks. He made it so
easy that, as the boys say, 'twas almost a shame to take the money. And
'twas the makin' of him, too."

Pearson was embarrassed and troubled. If this big-hearted, simple-minded
countryman had come to New York to buck the stock market, it was time
to sound a warning. But had he, on such short acquaintance, the right to
warn? The captain was shrewd in his own way. Might not the warning seem
presumptuous?

"So--this--this friend of yours was a successful speculator, was he?" he
asked. "He was lucky."

"Think so? Well, maybe. His name was Elkanah Chase, and his dad was old
man 'Rastus Chase, who made consider'ble in cranberries and one thing
or 'nother. The old man brought Elkanah up to be what he called a
gentleman. Ho! ho! Hi hum! I ain't sure what 'Rastus's idea of
a gentleman was, but if he cal'lated to have his son a tramp in
go-to-meetin' clothes, he got his wish. When the old man died, he willed
the boy fifteen thousand dollars. Well, fifteen thousand dollars is a
fortune to some folks--if they ain't economizin' in New York--but to
Elkanah 'twas just about enough to make him realize his poverty. So,
to make it bigger, he got one of them 'tips' from a college friend down
here in Wall Street, and put the heft of ten thousand into it. _And_, I
swan, if it didn't double his money!"

Captain Elisha's visitor shook his head. He did not even smile.

"He was extremely fortunate," he said. "I give you my word, Captain
Warren, that the majority of first speculators don't turn out that way.
I hope he was wise enough to keep his profits."

The captain rubbed his chin.

"Jim--" he began. "Excuse me, I should have said Mr. Pearson, but I've
got sort of in the habit of callin' folks by their first names. Livin'
where you know everybody so well gets you into those habits."

"Jim suits me. I hope you'll cultivate the habit."

"Do you? Well, I will. Now, Jim, referrin' to what I was goin' to say,
you, bein' a newspaper man, ought to know everything,