WAR TIME AND GOLD 65 



employer's mind, nor mine — for a time. But 

 it isn't easy to watch a game of the kind where 

 easy money is made by the turn of a hand, and 

 I began to think of my idle balance, for little was 

 doing in scrip, and to wonder if it were wise to 

 keep that talent wrapped in a napkin. I 

 talked with the wisest brokers I knew, and was 

 often advised to buy and time and again came 

 near yielding. Then came the wild upward rush 

 when gold first crossed 170 per cent. The 

 largest dealer of that time advised me confiden- 

 tially, 



"Get aboard quick! There's no stopping it. 

 All my customers are buying and every one else. 

 Let me buy five for you. I won't charge you 

 any commission and you'll make ten per cent in a 

 week." 



I nodded my head, and was committed to the 

 first gambling deal of my life. I had stood on 

 the brink many times, but had always shrunk 

 back from the thought of admitting at the office 

 that I had registered a bet on the price of gold. 

 For the creed of the office, like that of the street 



