our choking before you forget it," Bob replied.

The irate old man made a grab at his throat. Bob dodged back, and they
both fell to the floor, their chairs upsetting with quite a clatter. In
an instant Fred grappled the old fellow's legs and dragged him from Bob.
Bob sprang to his feet, seized an inkstand on the desk and dashed its
contents all over the old broker's face and bosom. Some of it got into
his eyes and blinded him.

Just then two brokers came in and separated them.

"Who is it, Halsey?" one of them asked.

"Mr. Bowles. He is away off his balance."

The two brokers laughed at the plight of the old man. His best friend
could not have recognized him covered as he was with ink. As if ashamed
of what he had done, Bowles scrambled to his feet, hurried out of the
office and made a break for his own quarters. But his appearance on the
street caused a sensation. Some boys saw him, and set up a series of
yells that brought a crowd about him in less than half a minute. An
officer ran up, looked hard at him for a moment or two and then collared
him.

"That's all right, officer," the old man said. "Just a little accident,
that's all."

"But you can't draw a crowd and obstruct the street this way," the
officer replied. "Who are you?"

"I am Bowles, the broker. One of the oldest in the Street."

"What! Are you Mr. Bowles?"

"Yes; come to my office and see before more people gather."

The officer went along with him, and when they appeared in the office
the clerks were almost panic-stricken, such a frightful-looking object
was he. The officer remained long enough to make sure he really was the
old broker and then left. In a little while the old man sent for a
carriage and was driven home, where he changed his clothes and got rid
of the ink stains on his face and hair. But the Street got hold of it,
though Fred nor Bob would not say anything about it. Some said the old
man heard they had a bag of wool hung up in their office and went in to
fan them out. They fanned him out and kept his fleece.

Those who were in the Rock Island deal felt very sore over the way it
had turned out, and it was a difficult matter for them to believe that
some one in it had not betrayed them. But Halsey & Company had come up
on top, and though but a couple of boys, the cunning old foxes of the
Street saw that they would have to be reckoned with in the future. The
weeks and months rolled on, and the gas machine was put on the market.