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。"
第4章