He turned to Vine.
"You hear?" he said simply.
"Yes, I hear!" Norris Vine answered.
"Of course," John Drayton continued, "I do not know how you drifted into
a conversation such as this, but in my last article in the _North
American Review_, which Mr. Vine here will probably remember, I took the
case of even a single man controlling one of the huge mercantile Trusts
in this country, and tried to show what would happen to the small
investors in a perfectly sound undertaking should a collapse happen to a
holder of shares to this excessive extent. It is a painful thing to have
to confess, but there is no doubt that it exists. We Americans are a
great commercial people, and the dollar fever runs a little too hotly in
our blood. We stretch out our hands too far. Vine, I know, agrees
with me."
"Yes," Vine answered, "I agree with you!"
He rose to his feet. John Drayton followed his example.
"My business is really concluded," he remarked. "I had to see your
manager on behalf of a client of mine. Are you coming my way, Vine? I am
going to the club."
"I will follow you in a few minutes," Vine answered.
John Drayton went out, and once more the three men were alone.
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