ot--that is no great matter. Half a million of the
shares were duly allotted; and that done, to the supreme delectation
of the stags, Mr Stickemup the broker, in conjunction with his old
friend and colleague Mr Knockemoff, fixed the price of shares by an
inaugural transaction of considerable amount, at 25 per cent. above
par, at which they went off briskly. Now were the stags to be seen
flying in every direction, eager to turn a penny before the inevitable
hour appointed for payment on the shares. It was curious to observe
the gradual wane of covetousness in the cerval mind; how, as the
fateful hour approached, their demand for profit grew small by degrees
and beautifully less. From 4s. premium per share to 3s.; from 3s. to
2s.; from 2s. to 1s.; and thence to such a thing as 9d., 8d., 7d., and
still downwards, till, as the hand of the dial verged upon the closing
stroke of the bell, they condescended to resign their Long Range
Excavators to the charge of buyers who _could_ pay for the shares they
held. The company was now fairly afloat. By the aid of

A few clever riggers to put on the pot,
To stir it round gently, and serve while 'twas hot,

the shares rose higher than had been expected. Aurophilus Dobrown sold
his 50,000 at a handsome premium, and realised what he was pleased
privately to term 'something substantial' by the speculation. The
public became enthusiastic on the subject of the Long Range
Excavators, and for a few short weeks they were the favourite
speculation of the market. By and by, however, a rumour began to be
whispered about on the subject of the monster-machine, the stomach of
which, it was secretly hinted, was alarmingly out of order, and
resisted all the tonics of the engineer. It was currently reported
among parties most interested, that from late experiments made,
previous to embarkation, it had been ascertained beyond a doubt, that
though the peristaltic apparatus digested pints with perfect ease, it
yet rejected quartz--a defect which it was but too plain would be
fatal to the production of gold. The effect of this rumour was most
alarmingly depressing upon the value of the shares. In a few days,
they fell 50 per cent. below par, with few buyers even at that. At
this juncture, it was discovered that one of the directors was
actively bearing the market; but the discovery was not made before
that disinterested personage, who had previously disposed of the whole
of his original allotment at