III.
Nowhere in America was the drop in the market felt more acutely than in that city. Since it was the headquarters of the Hert-win industries, and since everyone had the sense of being somehow on the inside, the plunging had been enormous. In the dark autumn it seemed that every person in town was more or less involved.
Earl Johnson took the blow on his chin. Two-thirds of his money melted away in the first slumps while he looked on helplessly, grasping at every counsel in the newspapers, every wild rumor in the crowd. He felt that there was one man who might have been able to help him; if he had been still a barber and shaving Mr. Philip Jadwin, he might have asked, “What had I better do now?” and got the right answer. Once he even called at his office, but Mr. Jadwin was busy. He di
