than ever puzzled.

Tom burst into a loud laugh.

"Ain't you jolly green, though?" he ejaculated.

Grant was rather nettled at this.

"I don't see how I could be expected to understand such talk," he
said, with some asperity.

"That's where it is--you can't," said Tom. "It's all like A, B, C to
me, and I forgot that you didn't know anything about Wall Street. A
bucket shop is where you can buy stock in small lots, putting down a
dollar a share as margin. If stocks go up, you sell out on the rise,
and get back your dollar minus commission,"

"Suppose they go down?"

"Then you lose what you put up."

"Isn't it rather risky?"

"Of course there's some risk, but if you have a good point there
isn't much."

This was Tom Calder's view of the matter. As a matter of fact, the
great majority of those who visit the bucket shops lose all they put
in, and are likely sooner or later to get into difficulty; so that
many employers will at once discharge a clerk or boy known to