I have nothing to say except
through it."
"But the public--" urged one.
"It doesn't interest me," said I, on my guard against the temptation to
cant. "I am a banker and investment broker. I am interested only in my
customers."
And I shut myself in, giving strict orders to Joe that there was to be no
talking about me or my campaign. "I don't purpose to let the newspapers
make us cheap and notorious," said I. "We must profit by the warning in
the fate of all the other fellows who have sprung into notice by attacking
these bandits."
The first news I got was that Bill Van Nest had disappeared. As soon as
the Stock Exchange opened, National Coal became the feature. But, instead
of "wash sales," Roebuck, Langdon and Melville were themselves, through
various brokers, buying the stocks in large quantities to keep the prices
up. My next letter was as brief as my first philippic:
"Bill Van Nest is at the Hotel Frankfort, Newark, under the name of Thomas
Lowry. He was in telephonic communication with President Melville, of the
National Industrial Bank, twice yesterday.
"The underwriters of the National Coal Company's new issues, frightened by
yesterday's exposure, have compelled Mr.
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