第23章 A Plunge into Wall Street (3)

Edward had been much attracted to Mr.Cary, and the attorney believed in the boy, and decided to show his interest by pushing him along.He had heard of the dual role which Edward was playing; he bought a copy of the magazine, and was interested.Edward now worked with new zest for his employer and friend; while in every free moment he read law, feeling that, as almost all his forbears had been lawyers, he might perhaps be destined for the bar.This acquaintance with the fundamental basis of law, cursory as it was, became like a gospel to Edward Bok.In later years, he was taught its value by repeated experience in his contact with corporate laws, contracts, property leases, and other matters; and he determined that, whatever the direction of activity taken by his sons, each should spend at least a year in the study of law.

The control of the Western Union Telegraph Company had now passed into the hands of Jay Gould and his companions, and in the many legal matters arising therefrom, Edward saw much, in his office, of "the little wizard of Wall Street." One day, the financier had to dictate a contract, and, coming into Mr.Cary's office, decided to dictate it then and there.An hour afterward Edward delivered the copy of the contract to Mr.Gould, and the financier was so struck by its accuracy and by the legibility of the handwriting that afterward he almost daily "happened in" to dictate to Mr.Cary's stenographer.Mr.Gould's private stenographer was in his own office in lower Broadway; but on his way down-town in the morning Mr.Gould invariably stopped at the Western Union Building, at 195Broadway, and the habit resulted in the installation of a private office there.He borrowed Edward to do his stenography.The boy found himself taking not only letters from Mr.Gould's dictation, but, what interested him particularly, the financier's orders to buy and sell stock.

Edward watched the effects on the stock-market of these little notes which he wrote out and then shot through a pneumatic tube to Mr.Gould's brokers.Naturally, the results enthralled the boy, and he told Mr.Cary about his discoveries.This, in turn, interested Mr.Cary; Mr.Gould's dictations were frequently given in Mr.Cary's own office, where, as his desk was not ten feet from that of his stenographer, the attorney heard them, and began to buy and sell according to the magnate's decisions.

Edward had now become tremendously interested in the stock game which he saw constantly played by the great financier; and having a little money saved up, he concluded that he would follow in the wake of Mr.Gould's orders.One day, he naively mentioned his desire to Mr.Gould, when the financier seemed in a particularly favorable frame of mind; but Edward did not succeed in drawing out the advice he hoped for."At least,"reasoned Edward, "he knew of my intention; and if he considered it a violation of confidence he would have said as much."Construing the financier's silence to mean at least not a prohibition, Edward went to his Sunday-school teacher, who was a member of a Wall Street brokerage firm, laid the facts before him, and asked him if he would buy for him some Western Union stock.Edward explained, however, that somehow he did not like the gambling idea of buying "on margin,"and preferred to purchase the stock outright.He was shown that this would mean smaller profits; but the boy had in mind the loss of his father's fortune, brought about largely by "stock margins," and he did not intend to follow that example.So, prudently, under the brokerage of his Sunday-school teacher, and guided by the tips of no less a man than the controlling factor of stock-market finance, Edward Bok took his first plunge in Wall Street!

Of course the boy's buying and selling tallied precisely with the rise and fall of Western Union stock.It could scarcely have been otherwise.

Jay Gould had the cards all in his hands; and as he bought and sold, so Edward bought and sold.The trouble was, the combination did not end there, as Edward might have foreseen had he been older and thus wiser.

For as Edward bought and sold, so did his Sunday-school teacher, and all his customers who had seen the wonderful acumen of their broker in choosing exactly the right time to buy and sell Western Union.But Edward did not know this.

One day a rumor became current on the Street that an agreement had been reached by the Western Union Company and its bitter rival, the American Union Telegraph Company, whereby the former was to absorb the latter.

Naturally, the report affected Western Union stock.But Mr.Gould denied it in toto; said the report was not true, no such consolidation was in view or had even been considered.Down tumbled the stock, of course.

But it so happened that Edward knew the rumor was true, because Mr.

Gould, some time before, had personally given him the contract of consolidation to copy.The next day a rumor to the effect that the American Union was to absorb the Western Union appeared on the first page of every New York newspaper.Edward knew exactly whence this rumor emanated.He had heard it talked over.Again, Western Union stock dropped several points.Then he noticed that Mr.Gould became a heavy buyer.So became Edward--as heavy as he could.Jay Gould pooh-poohed the latest rumor.The boy awaited developments.

On Sunday afternoon, Edward's Sunday-school teacher asked the boy to walk home with him, and on reaching the house took him into the study and asked him whether he felt justified in putting all his savings in Western Union just at that time when the price was tumbling so fast and the market was so unsteady.Edward assured his teacher that he was right, although he explained that he could not disclose the basis of his assurance.