already had of the stock and
"Standard Oil's" backing, the venture came as near being an absolutely
sure thing as could ever be found in stocks. My proposition was that I
should secure for the Bay State Company 50,000 shares of Butte at an
average of 20 to 25, and that I should have half the profits of the
venture provided they aggregated over two millions of dollars. Coming to
Addicks in this emergency was cold-blooded business on my part, and, it
goes without saying, was frozen-blooded business on his, for he
evidently saw then what I did not until later, that there was an
excellent opportunity to practise his pet game--make money and
double-cross his partner while doing so. We clinched the deal that
night, and next day in the market I turned the tables, for I took every
share my opponents offered for sale, and the stock, instead of dropping
out of sight, became firm, then began to mount, and never after fell
again.

The Bay State's venture showed a profit afterward of four millions of
dollars, but of my share of this large sum I was deprived, as I will
detail later.

At this juncture there occurred one of those strange and sad fatalities
which with its attendant circumstances helps to explain why those of us
who play with stock-markets grow superstitious. I have spoken of my
secretary, Mr. Vinal, a man of admirable discretion and absolute
loyalty, who was my right hand in executing the minutiae of the various
operations I then was engaged in. In such affairs the fidelity of one's
aides must be beyond all question, for if the merest detail of one's
plans leaks out at the critical moment, one is undone beyond recovery.
After my talk with Addicks I had laid out the campaign for the next
day's engagement and called in Vinal to explain to him his own part. He
was to attend to taking up and transferring the loans that had been
called, and I armed him with my power of attorney and blank checks,
instructing him to put these matters through without further
consultation with me, for my entire time must belong to my brokers
during the battle of prices which I knew must inevitably come with the
stroke of the gong that opened the Exchange next morning at ten, and
which would rage until its close at three. As I had anticipated, the
assault was fierce. It was give and take, charge and retreat, all day. A
few minutes after twelve, Vinal pushed through a crowd of brokers to me
and said: "I'm about half through my shifting, but a t