Page:The Wizard of Wall Street and his Wealth.djvu/144

 that on this Thursday evening the street had sold the clique one hundred and eighteen millions of gold, and every rise of one per cent, on this sum implied a loss of more than one million dollars to the bears. Naturally the terror was extreme, for half Broad street and thousands of speculators would have been ruined if compelled to settle gold at 150 which they had sold at 140. It need scarcely be said that by this time nothing more was heard in regard to philanthropic theories of benefit to the western farmer.

"Mr. Gould's feelings can easily be imagined. He knew that Fisk's reckless management would bring the government upon his shoulders, and he knew that unless he could sell his gold before the order came from Washington he would be a ruined man. He knew, too, that Fisk's contracts must inevitably be repudiated. This Thursday evening he sat at his desk in the Erie offices at the opera house, while Fisk and Fisk's brokers chattered about him. 'I was transacting my railroad business. I had my own views about the market and my own fish to fry. I was all alone, so to speak, in what I did, and I did not let any of those people know exactly how I stood. I got no ideas from anything that was said there. I had been selling gold from 35 up all the time, and I did not know till the next morning that there would probably come an order about twelve o'clock to sell gold.' He had not told Fisk a word in regard to Corbin's retreat nor his own orders to sell.