Argosy All-Story Weekly, December 2, 1922 — page 39: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

MR. STOKES’ ACCOUNT. when you go ahead and do a thing you seem forced to do. I’m working in self- protection now.”’ “Well, Miss Beth, you know best. I’m with you, whatever you decide to do. It ‘ll be interesting to see how the thing works out; and any time you want to tell me a little more, so it won’t be quite such a Chi- nese puzzle, I'll be glad to listen.” ‘ All right,” said Beth cheerfully. “ First chance I get I'll give you all the details.” She moved along to her desk, where a customer waited to speak with her. Garvin looked after her, his lips moving. I’m not sure, but I think they formed the words: ‘“‘ She’s a wonder, by George, a wonder!” VIl. THe astute though respectable Mr. Stokes, manager of the Templeton branch of Stokes & Blanchard, sat in his com- fortable room at the Templeton House and pondered, something in this fashion: “T don’t know but I’ve about milked this section dry. I suppose I ought not to complain, but it seems to me I could strike some place where the going would be a little easier. I don’t want to go back to New York, because while it is full of suck- ers, it is also infested with wise guys; and besides, I might get stung myself. Ive always got along better when I kept away from Wall Street and that gang of trimmers. I may be. pretty smooth when I’m among the hicks, but with that mob of sharks I don’t seem to stand a Chinaman’s chance. Lord! Wouldn’t I like to go down into Broad Street and put Alhambra on the curb as an unlisted oil and give the market a bump! It’s the only way to make a big killing; go heeled with a good-sized bank roll and catch a bunch of those fellows short. But I don’t know; if I stubbed my toe it would mean good night bank roll, and I’ve certainly worked too hard the last few months for what little I’ve got to risk it. Still-—” Stokes kept on pondering until bedtime. He was a gambler at heart, as are all his kind. Of course, a sure-thing venture was what he was always looking for; but want- ing a sure thing, and once fevered with the 509 awakened virus, he would gamble on any- thing. That was why he was afraid. Along toward midnight he went to bed. As he turned off the light he mumbled some- thing like: “T wish I knew. I wish I was either too scared to think of it, or else had nerve enough to make up my mind to give it a whirl without so darned much debate. By George, nerve is what I need. I don’t know, I don’t know.” Alhambra Leasing & Drilling had, ac- cording to Stokes’s notion, gone only half as well as it ought to go in Templeton. The townspeople had bought a good deal of the stock, but the rural sections hadn’t panned out so well. Stokes and his salesman had worked hard, but the farming population had been slow to fall for his proposition. His Templeton office had practically aban- doned all business except the exploitation of Alhambra. The bucketshop end of the game languished. Stokes made every effort to induce successful speculators to take their profits in Alhambra stock. He had by successive advances pushed the price up to ninety cents a share, and at this quota- tion the stock was very, very sluggish. Earlier buyers were beginning to want to know when they could cash in and take their profits. It took a good deal of Stokes’s time to explain to inquirers that he wasn’t in the business of buying AlI- hambra, but of selling it in order to get capital for development purposes. How, he asked, could he buy back stock when the company was using the proceeds of sales for driHing and other expenses? He insisted that these people hadn’t bought the stock just to sell again; they had bought it ‘as an investment, something that they might reasonably expect would pay them huge dividends in the near future; and, anyhow, if they were so shortsighted as to prefer immediate profit, they would have early opportunity to realize that profit when the stock “‘ went on the New York curb,” which he assured them was likely to happen any day now. Stokes had not had the least intention of putting Alhambra on the curb. But with’ a very comfortable balance in the Sands County Trust & Savings, it occurred to CGomichbooks.com