I commenced to buy at fifty-seven, and I am still buying,
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 certificate 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 handsome
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.
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