Page:Hugh Pendexter--Tiberius Smith.djvu/229

 "‘B-r-r-r!' began Tib, looking very solemn, while the chief clinched his hands and chattered away like a fractured Norwegian. 'Click! click! dot, dash, dot. Whew!' and he raised a hand impressively.

"‘Amalgamated Dog closes at one,' and an upraised digit interpreted the worst.

"Well, sir, they were stunned, and never made a move or a sound until they had read the tape. But such a husky roar as a full realization crept home! A decline of ten points!

"‘He's ruined,' howled Tib, trumpeting through his hands and ducking a spear. 'The Exchange remains closed indefinitely if the chorus don't keep him from us.'

"‘Great billiards,' I acknowledged; 'but what is the matter with Henry R.?'

"For as the chief bit and struggled to approach us, his skinny brother stepped out a slow, ponderous dance, punctuated with short, brisk yelps of gladness, and minced his way towards us and bowed mockingly. Then he began to harangue the mob, and Wogo, who could catch it in spots, went limp at the knees and whined that Henry had played the bear side with his bean capital and was now a millionaire in pups. Not only that, but he had cornered Amalgamated so thoroughly that the entire street would be dogless if he wasn't named chief in the place of his broken brother.