He had quite fallen into the habit of passing his unoccupied evenings
with the widow, and she in turn had denied herself to some of her
familiar friends on occasions when she had reason to expect him. Had
she known he was likely to come this evening, she would have taken care
to guard against his meeting with Snaffle; but as that gentleman was
first in the field, she had her choice between sending Greenfield away
and seeing them together. Like the clever woman she was, she chose the
latter alternative, and found, too, her account in so doing.
Erastus Snaffle was more familiarly than favorably known in financial
circles of Boston, as the man who had put afloat more wild-cat stocks
than any other speculator on the street. It might be supposed that his
connection with any scheme would be enough to wreck its prospects, yet
whatever he took hold of floated for a time. There was always a feeling
among his victims that at length he had come to the place where he must
connect himself with a respectable scheme for the sake of re-
establishing his reputation; but this hope was never realized. Perhaps
whatever he touched ceased from that moment to be either reliable or
respectable. However, since Snaffle was possessed of so inexhaustible a
fund of plausibility that he never failed to find investors who placed
confidence in his wildest statements, it after all made very little
difference to him what his reputation or his financial standing might
be.
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