"Well, then, we put that 20,000 pounds in our pockets,"
he proceeded with a steady glow in his eyes. "A fortnight hence,
that is March 14th, we ring the bell on them again, and they
march up to the captain's office and settle a second time.
Now what happens on the 14th? A jobber makes the price for
Semple again, and that settles the new sum they have to pay
us in differences. It is for us to say what that price
shall be. We'll decide on that when the time comes.
We most probably will just put it up another ten shillings,
and so take in just a simple 13,000 pounds. It's best
in the long run, I suppose, to go slow, with small
rises like that, in order not to frighten anybody.
So Semple says, at any rate."
"But why not frighten them?" Louisa asked. "I thought
you wanted to frighten them. You were full of that idea
a while ago."
He smiled genially. "I've learned some new wrinkles
since then. We'll frighten 'em stiff enough, before we're
through with them. But at the start we just go easy.
If they got word that there was a 'corner,' there would be
a dead scare among the jobbers. They'd be afraid to sell
or name a price for Rubber Consols unless they had the shares
in hand. And there are other ways in which that would
be a nuisance. Presently, of course, we shall liberate
some few shares, so that there may be some actual dealings.
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