I shouldered my way through the crowd into the buzzing Board-room as the session opened. Excitement thrilled the air, but the opening was listless. All knew that the struggle over Omega was to be settled that day, and that Doddridge Knapp or George Decker was to find ruin at the end of the call, and all were eager to hasten the decisive moment.
Wallbridge came panting before me, his round, bald head bobbing with excitement.
"Ready for the fray, eh? Oh, it's worth money to see this. Talk of your theaters now, eh? Got any orders?"
"Not yet," I returned, hardly sharing the little man's enjoyment of the scene. The size of the stakes made me tremble.
I could see nothing of Doddridge Knapp, and the uneasy feeling that he was at Livermore came over me. What was my duty in case he did not appear? Had he left his fortune at the mercy of the market to follow his lawless schemes? Had he been caught in his own trap, and was he now to be ruined as the result of his own acts? For a moment I felt a vengeful hope that he might have come to grief. But when I remembered that it was Luella who must suffer with him, I determined to make an effort to save the deal, even without authority, if the money or credit for buying the remaining shares was to be had.
I might have spared my worry. The call had not proceeded far, when the massive form of Doddridge Knapp appeared at the railing. The strong wolf-marks of the face were stronger than ever as he watched the scene on the floor. I looked in vain for a trace upon him of last night's work. If he had been at Livermore, he showed no sign of the passions or anxieties that had filled the dark hours.
He nodded carelessly for me to come to him as he caught my eye.
The King of the Street looked at me sharply.
"I told you to keep sober till this deal was over," he growled.
"You are obeyed," I said. "I have not touched a drop."
"Well, you look as though you had taken a romp with the devil," he said.
"I have," I returned with a meaning look.
His eyes fell before my steady gaze, and he turned them on the noisy throng before us.
"Be where I can call you the minute I want you," he replied.
"Now, my boy," he continued after a minute, "you are going to see what hasn't been seen in the Boards for years, and I reckon you'll never see it again."