Philip Curtiss

“ I am always willing to pay for my fun; but the bitter drop in my present cup lies in the fact that saving, not spending, has been my ruin. My downfall in life came not from extravagance but economy."
"Your story interests me strangely," I answered. "Sit down."
We sat down under the trees, lighted cigars, and Harry told me his curious tale.
"The days in which you knew me," he began, "were the happiest of my life. Let us make no bones about it. I always spent every cent that I earned. I was known as a man headed straight for the rocks, but even you will have to admit that I never got there. ”

“ You did yourself. The sum you have paid him is more than the house is worth. You have made him a present of the building and still have to pay him to live here.'
"With that he sat down to figure some more. He calculated that fifty dollars a month was the interest on ten thousand dollars. The upshot was that, in a week, I had bought a house of my own—and a mortgage. My happy days of rent slavery were over. It had sounded very plausible when Tom had said that I might just as well pay interest to a bank as rent to a landlord. ”

“ I went to see Tom about it. 'You got me into this,' I told him. 'Now it is up to you to get me out.'
"He laughed, as people do about other people's affairs. 'The trouble with you, Harry, is that you have never had any system. You have never looked two days ahead. Now, for instance, how much did you pay for that cigar you are smoking?'
" 'A quarter.'
" 'There you are!' he retorted. 'You are paying six cents for the gilt on the band and the privilege of buying it at a hotel. Those are the little leaks that are keeping you poor. ”