he said to himself, such fools that they
understood nothing. And then the money was very convenient to
him. He was intent on obtaining Sexty Parker's consent to a large
speculation, and knew that he could not do so without a show of
funds. By the time, therefore, that he had reached the city he had
resolved that at any rate for the present he would use the money and
say nothing about it to Mr. Wharton. Was it not spoil got from the
enemy by his own courage and cleverness? When he was writing his
acknowledgement for the money to Warburton he had taught himself to
look upon the sum extracted from the Duke as a matter quite distinct
from the payment made to him by his father-in-law.

It was evident on that day to Sexty Parker that his partner was a
man of great resources. Though things sometimes looked very bad, yet
money always "turned up." Some of their buyings and sellings had
answered pretty well. Some had been great failures. No great stroke
had been made as yet, but then the great stroke was always being
expected. Sexty's fears were greatly exaggerated by the feeling that
the coffee and guano were not always real coffee and guano. His
partner, indeed, was of opinion that in such a trade as this they
were following there was no need at all of real coffee and real
guano, and explained his theory with considerable eloquence. "If I
buy a ton of coffee and keep it six weeks, why do I buy it and keep
it, and why does the seller sell it instead of keeping it? The seller
sells it because he thinks he can do best by parting with it now at a
certain price. I buy it because I think I can make money by keeping
it. It is just the same as though we were to back our opinions. He
backs the fall. I back the rise. You needn't have coffee and you
needn't have guano to do this. Indeed the possession of the coffee
or the guano is only a very clumsy addition to the trouble of your
profession. I make it my study to watch the markets;--but I needn't
buy everything I see in order to make money by my labour and
intelligence." Sexty Parker before his lunch always thought that his
partner was wrong, but after that ceremony he almost daily became
a convert to the great doctrine. Coffee and guano still had to be
bought because the world was dull and would not learn the tricks of
trade as taught by Ferdinand Lopez,--also possibly because somebody
might want such articles,--but our enterprising hero looked for a
time in which no such dull burden s