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The Phantom Circuit · The Adventuress

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  Chapter twenty four of The Adventuress by Arthur b Reeve. This LibriVox recording is
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  in the public domain. Read by Anne Fletcher, Chapter twenty four, The
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  Phantom Circuit. I looked at Kennedy in despair. He was not even perturbed.
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  It was for just this moment that he had hurried to New York and
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  had worked so intensely over the telephone that I was holding. Dexter himself politely
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  informed us that he had reached a point where orders from mister Maddox to be
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  filled must have some more binding force than word of mouth over the telephone.
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  Tell him to wait just a moment, directed Kennedy, turning to the other
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  broker who had come to us. Will you, sir, tell mister Merril
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  to step down to the office of mister Dexter. I shall be there in
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  a moment myself, Walter, he added, calmly, ring Dexter off,
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  get Shelby Maddox and tell him to use the new wire connections. I did
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  as I was told, Even over the telephone. I could feel that the
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  strain was telling on Shelby's shattered strength. His voice was shaky as he inquired
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  thickly for news. I shouted something encouraging back and urged him to get on
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  the other wire, at which at our end, Kennedy was already impatiently waiting.
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  A moment later, I heard Kennedy and Shelby exchange a few words.
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  Shelby was evidently much alarmed over the sudden turn of events. As I waited,
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  I saw Kennedy jam the receiver down on the little metal base. The
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  three prongs reaching upward engaged the receiver tightly, fitting closely about it. Then
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  he took the small disk receiver from its hook and placed it to his ear
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  instead of the regular one. I wondered what it all meant. Craig's face
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  showed that whatever it was, it was most important. Yes, I heard
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  him call back. Give whatever orders you want now to me. I will
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  see that they are delivered. Pay no attention to the other telephone. Let
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  it ring until I tell you go ahead. Evidently Shelby was giving orders for
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  stock up to the limit of his resources that were available. For a moment.
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  There evidently came a pause in what was being said over the telephone at
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  the Westport end, and Kennedy gazed impatiently about the room. What good will
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  that do, I objected, seeing that Kennedy was not occupied. Don't you
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  suppose they'll hear what's said over this line too. We know they've cut in
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  on the two trunk lines at the Harbor House, and there's every reason to
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  suppose that someone taps the broker's wires here. Unless the brokers are crooks too,
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  they'll know what Shelby's going to do. Kennedy shook his head. No,
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  he replied calmly. No outsider knows a thing about this. You see,
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  I'm not using any ordinary means to prepare against the expert who has brought
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  this situation about. The messages that I am receiving are coming over what we
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  call the phantom circuit. The phantom circuit, I repeated, mystified. Yes,
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  it seems fantastic at first, I suppose, he pursued, But after
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  all, it is in accordance with the laws of electricity. They know nothing
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  and they cannot cut us off or interfere. You see, I am taking
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  advantage of the fact that additional telephones, or so called phantom lines, can
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  be superposed on existing physical lines. It is possible to obtain a third circuit
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  from two similar metallic circuits by using for each side of this third circuit the
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  two wires of each of the other circuits in multiple All three circuits are independent
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  two. He was growing more and more impatient. Apparently there was some delay
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  at the other end the third telephone current. He went on, hurriedly and
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  covering up his nervousness by talking about his machine enters the wires of the first
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  circuit, as it were, and returns along the wires of the second circuit.
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  There are several ways of doing it. One is to use retardation or
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  choke coils bridged across the two metallic circuits at both ends, with taps taken
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  from the middle points of each. But the better method, I think is
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  the one you've seen me install. I have introduced repeating coils into the circuits
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  at both ends. Technically, the third circuit is then taken off from the
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  midpoints of the secondaries or line windings of these repeating coils. I don't know
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  what's the matter, he added, calling vainly for Shelby Maddocks. All right,
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  yes, I'll wait, but hurry please. I could appreciate Kennedy's eagerness
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  for below on the street, the tumult was rising. It's working all right,
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  he reassured. I suppose you know that the current on a long distance
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  line is alternating in character, and it passes readily through a repeating coil.
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  The only thing it has on the transmission is slightly reducing the volume. The
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  current passes into the repeating coil and then divides and passes through the two line
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  wires at the other end. The halves balance, so to speak. Thus,
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  currents passing over a phantom circuit don't set up currents in the terminal apparatus
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  of the side circuits. Consequently, a conversation carried on over the phantom circuit
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  will not be heard on either side circuit. Nor does a conversation on one
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  side circuit affect the phantom. You get three messages at once on two sets
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  of wires. We can all talk at once without interfering with one another.
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  At any other time I should have been more than interested. But just now
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  the delay was calling. What's the trouble, I inquired. Kennedy shook his
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  head. Shelby is talking to Winifred about something. I can hear only a
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  word now and then. But he said it was important and asked me to
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  hold the wire. Evidently she wants to do something he doesn't want her to
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  do. Yes, hullo, Yes, this is Kennedy. Say you'll have
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  to oh good morning, miss Walcott. Yes, fine, what why certainly
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  if he says so, you may, that's right, go right ahead.
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  I'm at turning to everything at this end now. A moment later, when
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  Craig restored the telephone to its normal condition, he looked at me with a
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  smile. When if a Walcott is a tramp, he exclaimed, jumping up.
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  Just then our other telephone rang, and I answered it. I'm down
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  here in mister Dexter's office, called a voice, which I took to be
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  that of the other broker. We have been talking the situation over. Of
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  course, if mister Maddox's were here himself, you know, he went on
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  apologetically, it might be different. We could have him sign his name to
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  orders. But really, well, you understand, under the circumstances, we
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  feel, both mister Dexter and myself that we've gone about far enough. It's
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  not that we question mister Maddock's intentions in any way, you understand. But
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  perhaps if he were on the ground, he might protect us from loss which
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  he may not be able to do over the telephone. We're sorry, but
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  tell them I'll be right down, interjected Kennedy, sensing from my look the
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  tenor of what was being said. I interrupted the broker at the first opportunity,
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  and then turned to Kennedy. He had pulled from a compartment of the
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  metal base a little wax cylinder and dropped it into his pocket. Carefully.
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  Come on, he cried, dashing for the door and taking the stairs,
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  not even waiting for the elevator to come up. A moment later we burst
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  into the boardroom of the broker. Customers were standing about in a high state
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  of excitement, while the boys at the board scurried about replacing the figures on
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  little bits of green cardboard which fitted under the abbreviated names of the active stocks
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  listed on the board. At one end of the room, others were gathered
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  about the ticker, reading the words that the printed tape was pushing forth,
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  and all seemed to be talking at once. Kennedy did not pause, however,
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  but walked unceremoniously into the private office of Dexter. There already were several
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  men representing the two brokerage houses. Evidently they had been having a hasty conference
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  on what they should do in view of the situation. In Maddock's munitions,
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  I felt a sort of frigidity in the air as we entered. It was
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  not that anything was either said or done, but I have felt the same
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  thing several times when as a reporter it was my duty to be present at
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  some event that marked the freezing out of some person financially. Murdock's munitions began
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  dexter clearing his throat with dignity. Seems to have occasion somewhat of a flurry
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  on the market to day, in which it is the chief sufferer itself.
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  Our latest quotations shows that it has declined steadily two points, for instance,
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  since the quotation before and twenty five under the opening of the market. I
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  think you will readily appreciate mister Kennedy our position in the matter. Before Kennedy
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  could reply, however, another took up the conversation. Yes, he remarked,
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  we have been observing the trend of events for the last few days.
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  Of course, we can readily appreciate the feeling of mister Maddock's in the matter.
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  And indeed, I must say that at the beginning I thought that all
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  that was necessary was our good, strong show of buying, and that the
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  run would end. Now. However, it begins to look as though there
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  were other factors entering in. You know, the newspapers have given a great
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  deal of unpleasant notoriety to the Maddock's family and Maddock's munitions. Perhaps the general
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  public does not like it. At least it begins to seem as though even
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  mister Shelby Maddox might not have the resources to stem the tide. This is
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  mister Merrill, of Merrill and Moore, I believe, asked Craig, quietly,
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  reminding them that in their suave haste they had forgotten to introduce him.
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  Oh yes, returned Merrill, flushing a bit, for he was a great
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  stickler for punctilious etiquette, and his failure had betrayed the anxiety he sought to
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  conceal. It was a ticklish situation, and the brokers, always conservative,
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  were making it worse. Nor could one blame them. The case for the
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  stock looked at its darkest, verging rapidly on panic. Kennedy knew it all
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  just as well as they did, but he kept his coolness admirably and never
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  betrayed that he was doing a thing more than to drive a bargain, whereas
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  another might have given them an impression of merely stalling for time. As the
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  downward trend continued, I saw that Craig was indeed calculating how far he would
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  let it go, as though one were letting himself down a hill, and
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  testing just how little he needed to apply the brakes not to have the car
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  run away from him. It seemed to nettle the brokers. They wanted to
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  close the whole matter up brusquely. Yet Kennedy's commanding personality checked them. I
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  felt sure that they would even have ridden roughshod over Shelby, and Kennedy was
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  another matter. Dexter rose decisively. This must stop, he frowned. I
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  have orders from mister Maddox to buy shares well. I shall not say what
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  it totals, but the first order is for ten thousand cut in Kennedy quietly.
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  There was a moment of silence, during which the brokers looked at each
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  other, waiting for one to take the initiative. That is just the point,
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  began Merrill. Finally, you see, we have been buying steadily for
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  mister Maddocks. If he had authorized us by letter, or if he had
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  handed us a check certified. But he could not well have foreseen this raid
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  this morning, temporized Kennedy. True, no doubt that it does not protect
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  us. For example, where is your authority something anything that may be binding
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  on him for this new order of ten thousand shares. There was an air
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  of triumph about the way he said the words. It was evidently intended to
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  be a poser to leave Kennedy flowed and flat. Authority, repeated Craig,
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  quietly, Looking about, I wonder whether you have one of those dictating machines
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  aer dictophone in the office. Perhaps some one in the building has one.
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  We have one, returned Dexter, still coldly. I do not see how
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  anything you might dictate to it, and which a stenographer might transcribe, would
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  have any bearing on the question. Oh, it would not, agreed Kennedy
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  blithely. That was not what I intended to do. There is another use
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  I wished to put it to. Ah, I see, may I use
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  this transcribing apparatus? Or better yet, would you gentlemen, be so kind
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  as to listen to what I have here? He deliberately drew from his pocket
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  the cylinder. I had seen him detach from the instrument upstairs and slid it
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  on in the proper place in the new machine. As it began to revolve,
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  I studied the faces about me, intent on listening to what would be
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  said. Is that good enough? Queried Kennedy. It is a record on
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  an instrument devised for just this purpose, with you brokers who wished to hold
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  your customers to an agreement over the telephone. The needle of the machine sputtered
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  a bit, As Craig added, it is the teller scribe, a recent
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  invention of Edison, which recall words on a specially prepared phonograph cylinder. All
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  that is said both ways over a telephone wire. As nearly as I can
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  make out, some one unknown has been playing animated telescribe in this case.
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  Let us see now whether your utmost demands for safety and security cannot be satisfied
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  in this modern way. Not a word was said. The novelty of the
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  turn of events seemed to leave them no objection. In Shelby's own voice came
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  clear and distinct, the order to buy ten thousand shares of Maddock's munitions.
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  Then Kennedy stopped the machine, let us see how that works. Before we
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  go any further, he said significantly, his buying orders seemed forestalled by selling
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  orders when they were given over the regular telephone before the next is given.
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  Perhaps we may find we have stopped part of the leak. Kennedy's calm assurance
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  seemed to have completely changed their attitude. They were not convinced, but at
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  least silent. Out on the curb, we could hear the shouting as brokers
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  with stock to sell crowded about the man with the order to buy, whoever
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  was back of it. It was a well planned raid. The order for
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  ten thousand scarcely stemmed the flood. Quickly Kennedy let the little cylinder revolve.
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  Another order was placed, and another. I couldn't help noticing, however,
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  that each succeeding order was smaller than the rest, and it was hard to
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  escape the implication that Shelby was really reaching the limit of his available resources.
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  Anxiously, I listened to the turmoil on the curb. Now it would abate,
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  only to start up again. I glanced at Craig, what would he
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  do? Just then word was passed up that another block of stock had suddenly
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  been hurled on the market. The brokers looked skeptically at Kennedy. Would Shelby
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  be able to meet this final assault? Craig released the revolving cylinder again.
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  I gasped as I listened, remembering the pause over the wire upstairs, the
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  apparent reluctance of Shelby over something, and Craig's remark that followed. Winnifred Walcott
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  was placing orders, two of them, one to Dexter, the other to
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  Meryll and more. They were large orders, too, a great deal larger
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  than the selling order which had last bombarded the market. I glanced at Kennedy.
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  Not for a moment did he betray the anxiety I know he now felt,
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  for the orders must have involved a large part of Miss Walcott's own private
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  fortune. In his abstraction, Kennedy had forgotten to stop the telescribe, and
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  I heard over it another voice that sounded like Burke's. I'll say, he
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  announced, I've got a clue on that store room in the cellar. I
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  oh, never mind, now, Burke. I heard Kennedy answer over the
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  telescribe, that'll keep just now. There isn't a minute to spare. I
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  heard no more for Kennedy realized what he was doing and shut the reproducer off,
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  pulling off the recording cylinder. Would miss Walcott's order be enough to turn
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  the scale. The stock was down, her money would purchase more shares than
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  before. If it did and the stock rose, she stood to win.
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  If it went lower, she might lose all. I jumped to the window
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  again. The news of the order two orders in facts and large ones came
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  like a bomb shell on the overwrought market. Was the supporting power of Maddock's
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  unlimited One could feel the air tingle with the question. I saw some speculators
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  hold a hasty conference, though I did not know it at the time.
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  They decided that an interest that could weather such an assault could weather anything that
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  some one had been buying all the way down to boost back the stock far
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  above the old high mark. They wanted to share in the upward turn and
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  were ready to take a gambler's chance. Others caught the spirit, for if
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  the curb is anything, it is a driven herd. Slowly the stock began
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  to climb. The speculative public were in it now, selling orders almost fell
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  off up jumped the price. Kennedy drew a long breath as He pulled a
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  Westport time table from his pocket to cover his revulsion of feeling Maddock's munitions were
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  saved. End of Chapter twenty four,