Then I saw
Decker, pale, eager, alert, standing by the rail across the room,
signaling orders to men who howled bids and plunged wildly into the
crowd that surrounded his rival.
The bids and offers came back and forth with shouts and barks, yet they
made but a murmur compared to the whirlwind of sound that had arisen
from the pit at the former struggles I had witnessed. There seemed but
few blocks of the stock on the market. Yet the air was electric with
the tense strain of thousands of minds eager to catch the faintest
indication of the final result, and I found it more exciting than the
wildest days of clamor and struggle.
"This is great," chuckled Wallbridge, taking post before me. "There
hasn't been anything like it since Decker captured Chollar in the
election of seventy-three. You don't remember that, I guess?"
"I wasn't in the market then," I admitted.
"Lord! Just to hear that!" cried the stout little man, mopping his
glistening head frantically and quivering with nervous excitement.
"Doddridge Knapp bids fifteen hundred for the stock and only gets five
shares. Oh, why ain't I a chance to get into this?"
I heard a confused roar, above which rose the fierce tones of Doddridge
Knapp.
"How many shares has he got to-day?" I asked.
"Not forty yet."
"And the others?"
"There's been about two thousand sold."
I gripped the rail in nervous tension. The battle seemed to be going
against the King of the Street.
"Oh!" gasped Wallbridge, trembling with excitement.
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