Mother

第4章

It\'snothisownincomehe\'snursing,andsohedoesn\'tcarehowsmallhemakesit,providedonlythathisinvestmentswouldbealwayscalledsafe。

Nowtherearewaysofbeingsafewithoutspendinganytroubleortimeuponit;andthosearethewaysatrusteewilltake。Forexample,\'andherehearoseandunhookingafileofcurrentquotationsfromthewall,placeditinmylapasIsatbesidehim。\'nowhereareGovernmentthree\'ssellingat1083-8。TheyareassafeastheUnitedStates;andifI

advisedyoutobuythem,itwouldcostmenothought,andmycharacterforsafetywouldrunnoriskofablemish。Thatisthesortofbondthatatrusteerecommends。Butseewhatincomeitgivesyou。Roughlyspeaking,abouttwenty-eightthousanddollars。\'"

"\'Thatwouldnotdoatall,\'saidI,thinkingofEthelandOctober。"

"\'Certainlynotforyou,\'returnedMr。Beverly,gaily。Ifyouwereatimorousoldmaid,now,whowouldreallylikeallhermoneyinherstockingingoldpieces,onlyshe\'sashamedtosayso!Butayoungfellowlikeyouwithnoresponsibility,nowife,andbutcher\'sbillit\'squiteanotherthing!\'"

"\'Quite,\'saidI,\'oh,quite!\'"

"Richard,"interruptedEthel,"doyouhavetomakeyourselfoutsosimple?"

"Mydear,youforgetthatIsaidIshouldinventnothing,butshouldkeepmyselftoactualexperiences。ThepartofmystorythatiscomingnowisonewhereIshouldbeverygladtodrawuponmyimagination。"

"Mr。Beverlynowranhisfingerupanddownvariouscolumns。\'Hereagain,\'saidhe,\'isatypicaltrusteebond,andnetsyouafewthousanddollarsmoreatpresentprices。NewYorkCentralandHudsonRiver3

1-2\'s。OrhereareWestShore4\'sat1135-8。Butyouseeitscalesdowntoprettymuchthesamething。Thesortofbondthatatrusteewillcallsafedoesnotbringtheownermorethanaboutthreeandone-halfpercent。\'"

"\'Why,therearesomesixpercentbonds!\'Isaid;andIpointedthemouttohim。"

"\'Sellingat1377-8,yousee,\'saidMr。Beverly。\'Deductingthetax,thereyouarescaleddownagain。\'Hepencilledsomeswiftcalculations。

\'There,\'saidhe。AndInearlyunderstoodthem。\'NowI\'mnotheretostopyourbuyingthatsortofpetticoatandcanary-birdwafer,\'continuedMr。

Beverly。\'It\'stheregulartrusteemove,andnobodycouldcriticiseyouifyoumadeit。It\'swhatIcallthoughtlesssafety,anditbringsyouabout31-2percent,asIhavealreadyshownyou。Anybodycandoit。\'"

ThesewordsofMr。BeverlymademefeelthatIdidnotwanttodowhatanybodycoulddo。\'ThereisanotherkindofsafetywhichIcallthoughtfulsafety,\'saidhe。\'Thoughtful,becauseitrequiresyoutoinvestigatepropertiesandtheirearnings,andgenerallytouseyourindependentjudgmentafteragooddealofwork。Andallthisatrusteegreatlydislikes。Itrewardsyouwithfiveandevensixpercent,butthatisnostimulustoatrustee。\'"

"SomethinginmehadleapedwhenMr。Beverlymentionedsixpercent。

AgainIthoughtofEthelandOctober,andwhatadifferenceitwouldbetobeginourmodesthousekeepingonsixtyinsteadoffortythousanddollarsayear,outsideofwhatIwasearning。Mr。Beverlynowrangabell。\'Youhappentohavecome,\'saidhe,\'onamorningwhenIcanreallydosomethingforyououtofthecommon。Bringme(itwasaclerkheaddressed)oneofthosePetuniacirculars。Nowhereyoucanseeataglanceforyourself。\'HebeganreadingtheprospectusrapidlyaloudtomewhileIfolloweditsparagraphswithmyowneye。Hisstrong,well-polishedthumb-nailranheavilybutspeedilydownthecolumnsoffiguresandsuchwordsasgrossreceipts,increaseofpopulation,sinkingfund,redeemableat105after1920,churnedvigorouslyandmeaninglesslythroughmybrain。ButIwasnotgoingtolethimknowthattounderstandthecircularIshouldhavetotakeitawayquietlytomydeskinNassauStreet,andspendanhourwithitalone。"

"\'WhatisyouropinionofPetuniaWatersixes?\'heinquired。"

"\'Theyarealead-pipecinch,\'Iimmediatelyanswered;andheslappedmeontheknee。"

"\'That\'swhatIthink!\'hecried。\'Anyhow,Ihavetaken20,000formother。Dowhatyoulike。\'"

"\'Ohwell,\'saidI,delightedatthisconfidence,IthinkIcanaffordtoriskwhatyouarewillingtoriskforyourmother,Mrs。Beverly。WhereisPetunia,didyousay?\'"

"Hepulleddownarollermaponthewallasyoudrawdownawindow-blind,andagainIlistenedtostatementsthatchurnedinmybrain。PetuniawasanewresortontheseacoastofNewHampshire。OnerailwaysystemdidalreadyconnectitwithbothPortsmouthandPortland,butitwasnotaverydirectconnectionatpresent。Yetinspiteofthis,thepopulationhadincreased23andseven-tenthspercentinfiveyears,andnowanelectricrailwaywasinconstructionthatwoulddoublethepopulationinthenextfiveyears。Thiswaslessthanwhathadhappenedtootherneighbouringresortsunderidenticalconditions;yetwiththingsastheynowwere,thecompanywasearningtwopercentonitsstock,whichwasbeingputintoimprovements。Thestockwassellingat30,andifadividendwaspaidnextyear,itwouldgotopar。ButMr。Beverlydidnotcounselbuyingthestock。\'Ididnotletmotherhaveany,\'hesaid,\'thoughItooksomemyself。Butthebondsaredifferent。You\'regettingthelastthatwillbesoldatpar。Inthreedaystheywillbeplacedbeforethepublicat1021/2andinterest。\'"

"IwaswellpleasedwhenIleftMr。Beverly\'soffice。InafewdaysIwasstillmorepleasedtolearnthatIcouldsellmyPetuniasixesfor104ifsowished。ButIdidnotwishit;andMr。Beverlytoldmethatheshouldnotsellhismother\'sunlesstheywentto110。\'Inthatcase,\'saidhe,\'itmightbeworthwhiletocapitaliseherpremium。\'"

"Ilikedtheideaofcapitalisingone\'spremium。Ifyouhadfiftybondsthatcostyoupar,andsoldthemat110,youwouldthenbuyatparfifty-fivebondsofsomeotherrisingkind,andgoondoingthisuntilI

namednolimitforthisprocess;butmydelightedmindsawvisionsofeightyandahundredthousandayearcomfortatleast,ifnotaffluenceinNewYorkandIexplainedtoEthelwhatthephrasecapitalisingone\'spremiummeant。IshowedherthePetunias,too,andwereadwhatitsaidonthecouponsaloudtogether。Ethelwasatfirstnotquitesatisfiedwiththearrangementofthecoupons。\'ThirtydollarsonJanuaryfirst,andthirtyonJulyfirst,\'shesaid。Thatseemsalongwhiletowaitforthosepayments,Richard。Andthereareonlytwoineveryyear,thoughyoupaythemathousanddollarsallatonce。Itdoesnotseemverypromptontheirpart。\'Itoldherthatthiswastherule。\'But,\'sheurged,\'don\'tyouthinkthatamanlikeMr。Beverlymightbeabletogetthemtomakeanexceptionifheexplainedthecircumstances?Otherpeoplemaybesatisfiedwithwaitingforlittlecrumbsinthisway,butwhyshouldwe?\'

Isoonmadeherunderstandhowitwas,however,andIexplainedmanyotherfactsaboutinvestmentsandthestockmarkettoher,asIlearnedthem。Itwasagreatpleasuretodothis。Wecametotalkaboutfinanceevenmorethanwetalkedofmywritings;forduringthatSpringI

investedagooddealmorerapidlythanIwrote。ThePetuniashadtakenonlyone-twentiethofamilliondollars;andthoughMr。Beverlywarnedmetorushhastilyintonothing,andpointedoutthegoodsenseofdistributingmyeggsinanumberofbaskets,stillwebothagreedthatthesoonerallmymoneywasbringingmefiveorsixpercent,thebetter。"

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