Page:The Wizard of Wall Street and his Wealth.djvu/328

 One morning he had his lawyers execute an assignment of his property, and on the following day—a beautiful Sunday morning—his yacht went down to Long Branch, where the bear operators were summering. Gould's emissaries landed and held a conference with his foes. They bore his ultimatum—a copy of the assignment and the statement that unless the bears made terms with him he would on the following morning file the assignment and give public notice that he was unable to meet his engagements.

At that time he was supposed to be borrowing some $20,000,000, and his failure would create a bigger panic than the one the street had just passed through. Many of the firms with which the bear combine had "short" contracts outstanding would doubtless fail, and in the general crash the successful bears themselves might be heavy losers. After a protracted conference the bears agreed to "let up" on Gould on condition that he should turn over to them 50,000 shares of Western Union at the current market price, $50 per share. This enabled them to make delivery of the shares they had sold at high prices. In speaking of this "deal" the following day, one of the bears expressed his confidence that Gould would have to fail anyhow—the help he received would be transient in its effect as a glass of brandy given to a dying man.

He was wrong. He underestimated the fertility of resource in Gould and his associates.

Many of the men in the financial quarter of New