as awful interested. He dumped some money in a mine once.
The mine caved in on it, I guess, for not a red cent ever come to the
top again, but he's been a kind of prophet concernin' finances ever
sence.

"'I want to see the big fellers,' says he. 'S'pose that fat one is
Morgan?'

"'I don't know,' says I. 'Me and Pierpont ain't met for ever so long.
Don't lean over and point so; you're makin' a hit.'

"He was, too. Some of the younger crew on the floor was lookin' up and
grinnin', and more kept stoppin' and joinin' in all the time. I cal'late
we looked kind of green and soft, hangin' over that marble rail, like
posies on a tombstone; and green is the favorite color to a stockbroker,
they tell me. Anyhow, we had a good-sized congregation under us in
less than no time. Likewise, they got chatty, and commenced to unload
remarks.

"'Land sakes!' says one. 'How's punkins?'

"'How's crops down your way?' says another.

"Now there wa'n't nothin' real bright and funny about these
questions--more fresh than new, they struck me--but you'd think they
was gems from the comic almanac, jedgin' by the haw-haws. Next minute
a little bald-headed smart Alec, with clothes that had a tailor's sign
hull down and out of the race, steps to the front and commences to make
a speech.

"'Gosh t'mighty, gents,' says he. 'With your kind permission, I'll sing
"When Reuben Comes to Town."'

"And he did sing it, too, in a voice that needed cultivatin' worse'n
a sandy front yard. And with every verse the congregation whooped and
laughed and cheered. When the anthem was concluded, all hands set up a
yell and looked at us to see how we took it.

"As for me, I was b'ilin' mad and mortified and redhot all over. But Sim
Phinney was as cool as an October evenin'. Once in a while old Sim
comes out right down brilliant, and he done it now. He smiled, kind
of tolerant and easy, same as you might at the tricks of a hand-organ
monkey. Then he claps his hands, applaudin' like, reaches into his
pocket, brings up a couple of pennies, and tosses 'em down to little
baldhead, who was standin' there blown up with pride.

"For a minute the crowd was still. And THEN such a yell as went up! The
whole floor went wild. Next thing I knew the gallery was filled with
brokers, grabbin' us by the hands, poundin' us on the back, beggin' us
to come have a drink, and generally goin' crazy. We was solid with the
'system' for once in our lives. We could have had that whole