344 THE FAT OF THE LAND 
getting from the bank, while the prospect of a 
decided advance was good. I said to them :— 
“«] 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 
Senin ra 
