the hour of three
The swaying forms , the tossing arms , the frantic uplifted faces of aged men , the football rush of impetuous youths , the shrieks , howlings and bellowings of the combatants , the tramp of feet on the paper-strewn floor , the clatter of innumerable instruments , the tinkle of myriads of bells ; and through the opened windows God 's pure sunlight illumining this hell on earth -- such was the scene they looked down upon . I knew the signs which told when Harding threw the first bits of `` raw meat '' into this gilded corral . I knew that he long since had cornered N.O. & G. , and that he would whet the appetites of his victims as only he knew how , but I did not know that it was his day of reckoning for other `` conspirators '' equally as grasping as those with whom I had measured my puny sword . As the hands of the clock slowly crawled to the hour of three the frenzy of the mob in the centre of the pit became maddening . I had no way of knowing from where we stood whether prices were moving up or down , but it was evident that Harding was `` feeding the animals . '' Then the gong boomed the signal that the session was ended . The tumult rose to one resounding crash , hesitated , subsided and died away .