If it goes down, as I sincerely hope it may not--more for your sakes, believe me, than my own--I shall suffer with you.

Let us hope for the best.

I have already authority for announcing to you that another monthly dividend of two per cent.

will be paid you before I am called upon to leave you.

That certainly looks like prosperity.
Gentlemen, I bid you farewell." When they had departed, having first heartily shaken the proprietor's hand, that gentleman locked his door, and gazed for a long time into his mirror.
"Robert Belcher," said he, "are you a rascal?
Who says rascal?
Are you any worse than the crowd?
How badly would any of these precious fellow-citizens of yours feel if they knew their income was drawn from other men's pockets?
Eh?
Wouldn't they prefer to have somebody suffer rather than lose their investments?
Verily, verily, I say unto you, they would.