The old gray buccaneer, who had charge of the pool's interests, was as ready for action as was Mr.Bayard.The latter stock-King was perhaps the only one in the Street who possessed a foreknowledge of what daring deeds our White House meditated.

To Mr.
Bayard the secrets of Courts and Cabinets were told, for he had an agent at the elbow of every possibility.

The old gray buccaneer was not so well provided; none the less, with decks cleared, guns shotted, cutlasses ground to razor-edge, he was prompt on the instant to put forth against Northern Consolidated now when the tempest which lashed the market favored his pirate purposes.
Those four millions which had been decided upon as the fund of the osprey pool were banked ready to the hand of the old gray buccaneer.
Storri, who had been losing money, exhausted himself in providing the five hundred thousand which made up his one-eighth of the four millions.
By squeezing out his last drop of credit, he succeeded in gathering those thousands; once gathered, he tossed them into the pool's fund as carelessly as though they had been nothing more than the common furniture of his pocket, without which he would not think of beginning the day.

Storri at least was a magnificent actor.
In collecting those five hundred thousand dollars, Storri, among other securities, put up the French shares.

He thought nothing of that, since following victory over Northern Consolidated they would be back in his hands again.