Page:The Wizard of Wall Street and his Wealth.djvu/56

 other ways entered into many hazardous enterprises. He continued to draw on Leupp for money and to display his incapacity as a book-keeper until Leupp became suspicious, just as Pratt had. Meanwhile the panic of 1857 had swept over the country and unsettled all business operations, and when Leupp discovered the extent in which he had been involved in Gould's speculations he thought that he was ruined. He went to his magnificent home one night and, in a fit of despondency, shot himself dead. It is not certain but that Gould's schemes would have turned out all right, and to Leupp's, as well as to Gould's advantage, but it is a fact that Leupp's partners and heirs have always felt very bitter against Gould, and could not help believing that he was indirectly the cause of Leupp's sad and untimely end.

Mr. Leupp's old-fashioned notions had been terribly shocked, for Gould had gone into corners in hides and other tanneries which might and might not have turned out well. When he found that his partner had bought not only all the hides then in the market but all that were to arrive in the ensuing six months, he literally lost his reason, and his suicide occurred after a stormy interview with Gould, who remained imperturbably cool and simply turned on his heel and left the office.

It is related that in the excitement and passion of Black Friday when a mob surged through Wall street, a voice was heard above the tumult shouting the awful question: