Page:The Wizard of Wall Street and his Wealth.djvu/142

 Lynch for justice; and had any of the gentlemen appeared outside the confines of the front wall, the chances were that the lamp-post near by would have very soon been decorated with a breathless body. To insure their safety inside, however, a small police force kept guard outside, which made the barricade complete. These gentlemen remained under this shelter until the small hours of the morning, busily endeavoring to find out where they stood in the result of the gold deal; and the more they pondered over it, the greater grew the doubt in their minds whether they were standing on their heads or their heels."

The story told by Mr. Adams is also worthy of repetition as a graphic description of the terrors of the day. Beginning with the morning before, he says:

"It was the morning of Thursday, the 3d; Gould and Fisk went to Broad street together, but as usual Gould was silent and secret, while Fisk was noisy and communicative. There was now a complete separation in their movements. Gould acted entirely through his own firm of Smith, Gould & Martin, while Fisk operated principally through his old partner, Belden. One of Smith's principal brokers testifies: 'Fisk never could do business with Smith, Martin & Gould very comfortably. They would not do business for him. It was a very uncertain thing, of course, where Fisk might be. He is an erratic sort of genius. I don't think anybody would want to follow him very long. I am satisfied that Smith,