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。"