76 WALL STREET AND THE WILDS 



was announced it was discovered that I was not 

 twenty-one years of age. 



Our business was speculative from the first, and 

 soon consisted almost entirely of the turns in gold 

 which I made. From Monte Carlo to the police- 

 protected dens in New York; from the Ex- 

 changes, big and little, down to the bucket and 

 policy shops, each player of the game has his sys- 

 tem. From the financier's figures to the darkey's 

 dream, the purpose of each is to convert chance 

 into certainty, and all are alike futile. The sim- 

 plest and soundest of these systems has been de- 

 feated at the gaming table many thousand times, 

 yet the apparent mathematics of the thing will 

 lure victims while time lasts. The most mentally 

 agile brokers, steeped from childhood in knowl- 

 edge of the market, without commissions to pay 

 and standing at the fountain head, make at best 

 a precarious living. 



The gambler in stocks, for the euphemism 

 of speculator deceives only the unintelligent, 

 usually buys or sells upon a secret tip which he 

 is assured comes from the very arcanum of the 



