The whole thing
came to seem a sort of joke to John. He never took any bonds for his own
personal use. He gave everything to Prescott, and he rarely, if ever,
saw Prescott except to hand him securities.
One day Prescott walked right into the bank itself and John gave him one
hundred and sixty-five bonds, which he stuffed under his overcoat and
carried away. Remember that this is a _fact_.
The thing, which began in August, 1905, dragged over through the
following year and on into 1907. John weathered two examinations by the
accountants, the last being in October, 1906, when they certified that
the company was absolutely "O.K." and everything intact. On that
particular day John had over three hundred thousand dollars in Overland
4s and 5s scattered over the Street.
In the first six months they lost one hundred thousand dollars in
cotton. Then they played both sides of the market in stocks and got
badly bitten as bears in the temporary bull market in the autumn of
1906, selling Union Pacific at 165, which afterward went to 190,
Northern Pacific at 185, which went to 200, etc., etc.
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