Nobody expected it would come so soon.
The strangest thing of all was that no one knew anything of the antecedents of either member of the firm, or what the great Kidd Discovery Company was really based upon.

Enterprising gentlemen had bought and sold the stock, and made and lost money by it.

That was all they knew of it.

The morning papers had given them an interesting account about Gusher; now some one was needed to tell them all about Topman--where he came from, who he was, and where he was to be found.
There was enough to call him rascal now.

Even those who had ridden in his carriage, and enjoyed his dinners, and indeed thought him the best of fellows a few weeks before, were now ready to give him the hardest of kicks.
In truth, the firm was a mystery in Wall Street, and its largest creditors were in the greatest darkness concerning it.