344 THE FAT OF THE LAND 



getting from the bank, while the prospect of a 

 decided advance was good. I said to them : 



" I have owned Chicago, Rock Island, and 

 Pacific stock for more than three years. I com- 

 menced to buy at fifty-seven, and I am still buy- 

 ing, when I can get hold of a little money that 

 doesn't have to go into this blessed farm. It is 

 now eighty-one, and it will go higher. I am so 

 sure of this that I will agree to take the stock 

 from each or all of you at the price you pay for it 

 at any time during the next two years. There is 

 no risk in this proposition to you, and there may 

 be a very handsome return." 



They were pleased with the plan, and we 

 formed a pool to buy thirty shares of stock. 

 Thompson and I were trustees, and the certifi- 

 cate stood in our names ; but each contributor 

 received a pro-rata interest ; Lena, one thirtieth ; 

 Judson, five-thirtieths ; and the others between 

 these extremes. The stock was bought at eighty- 

 two. I may as well explain now how it came 

 out, for I am not proud of my acumen at the 

 finish. A little more than a year later the stock 

 reached 122, and I advised the syndicate to sell. 

 They were all pleased at the time with the hand- 

 some profit they had made, but I suspect they 

 have often figured what they might have made 

 if the boss hadn't been such a chump," for we 

 have seen the stock go above two hundred. 



This was not the only enterprise in which our 

 colony took a small share. The people at Four 



