of selling for you two hundred shares of Reading railroad.  You can cover to-day at a profit of one point—­about $200.  I do not urge it.  On the contrary I believe that the market, barring occasional rallies, is still on the downward track.  I wish, however, to put you in a position where you can, if you desire, take advantage of the full opportunities of the financial situation and save myself from feeling that I have robbed you by my friendly caution.”

“In other words you don’t wish to speculate with my money,” said Littleton.  “You wish me to paddle my own canoe.”

Williams’ real desire was to escape the bother of personally superintending an insignificant account.  His circumlocution was a suave way of stating that he had done all that could be expected of a neighbor and benevolent friend, and that the ordinary relation of broker and customer ought now be established.  As for Littleton, he perceived that he was not free to retire from the market on the profits of friendly regard unless he was prepared to fly in the face of advice and buy in his two hundred Reading railroad.  To do so would be pusillanimous; moreover to retire and abstain from further dealings would make Williams’ two cheques more obviously a charitable donation, and the thought of them was becoming galling.  Above all there were Selma’s feelings to be considered.  The possession of the means to afford her happiness was already a sweet argument in favor of further experiments.

And so it happened that during the next nine months Littleton became a frequenter of the office of Williams & VanHorne.  He was not among those who hung over the tape and were to be seen there daily; but he found himself attracted as the needle by the magnet to look in once or twice a week to ascertain the state of the market.  His ventures continued to be small, and were conducted under the ken of Williams, and though the occasional rallies referred to by the broker harassed Wilbur’s spirit when they occurred, the policy of selling short proved reasonably remunerative in the course of half a dozen separate speculations.  In round figures he added another $2,500 to that which Williams had made for him.  The process kept him on pins and needles, and led him to scan the list of stock quotations before reading anything else in the newspaper.  Selma was delighted at his success, and though he chose not to tell her the details of his dealings, she watched him furtively, followed the general tendency of the market, and when she perceived that he was in good spirits, satisfied sufficiently her curiosity by questions.