And
you were wiped out."
"Oh, the best of 'em get aboard a bad deal now and then."
"I know. But I've been tabulating all your deals to date, and on the
total you're away behind. Better leave the market absolutely alone,
Dick, and quit taking those big chances."
"You've got to take some big chances, Captain Nemo"--Dick had clung
to the title he had lightly conferred on Larry the morning he had come
in to apologize--"or else you'll never make any big winnings. Besides,
I want a run for my money. Just getting money isn't enough. I want a
little pep in mine."
Larry saw that these talks on the unwisdom of speculation he was
giving Dick were not in themselves enough to affect a change in Dick.
Mere words were colorless and negative; something positive would be
required.
Larry hesitated before he ventured upon another matter he had long
considered. "Excuse my saying it, Dick. But a man who's trying to do
as much in a business way as you are, particularly since it's plain
speculation, can't afford to go to after-theater shows three times a
week and to late suppers the other four nights. Two and three o'clock
is no bedtime hour for a business man. And that boot-legged booze you
drink when you're out doesn't help you any. I know you think I'm
talking like a fossilized grand-aunt--but all the same, it's the
straight stuff I'm handing you.
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