human
Foolish people think it a game of gambling. So it is--for them. What is it to us? It is the forecasting of events. It is the pitting of our experience, our sagacity, against what some outsiders call chance and some Providence. We anticipate events; we read the future by the light of the present.
gpt
Then it isn't true about Malachi, said Mr. Beck.
human
And he wasn't the last prophet.
gpt
There is no game in the world so well worth playing. Politics? You stake your reputation on the breath of the mob. War? You throw away your life at the stockade of savages before you can learn it. Trade? It is the lower branch of the game of speculation. In this game those who have cool heads and iron nerve win. To lose your head for a moment is to lose the results of a lifetime--unless, he murmured, as if to himself--
human
Well, sir, said Gilead,
gpt
I am a scholar, and I learn something new every day. Do you wish me to learn this game? It seems to me----
human
You? Contempt that could not be repressed flashed for a moment across the thin features of the speculator.
gpt
You? No. Perhaps, Mr. Beck, I do not interest you. He resumed his habitually cold manner, and went on:
human
I propose, however, to give you my assistance in investing your money, to such advantage as I can, in English and foreign stocks, including railway companies, but not in the shares of newly-formed trading companies.
gpt
Sir, that is very kind.
human
You trust me, then, Mr. Beck?
gpt
That is satisfactory to both of us, he said.
human
And I will send up the power of attorney to-day.