Raymond S. Spears

“ He was more and more impressed with the fact that when he slipped silver dollars into jugs buried in the ground he was saving a fortune—money that could be invested and made to earn more money. Nothing had ever been more startling to Lunmer Andrest than this discovery of the realms of finance. He lost sleep at night running over, in his imagination, problems of interest and income and investment in stocks, bonds, or mortgages. ”

“ Even Andrest, now, could see the humor of burying money in the ground to save the trouble of mending holes in his pockets.
Then Urgone turned to the question of investing the money.
"Of course," he said, "it would pay the bank more for the present if you would leave it on deposit, and we could give you certificates which would bring you four dollars a year for each hundred dollars; but I think you would do better by putting all or most of it into securities. You can buy railroad, industrial, or other stocks or bonds. ”

“ He had no clear idea of what stocks were, or how they differed from bonds or mortgages; but he knew that a stock or bond would earn money—five or six dollars a year for a hundred dollars invested.
What with his fishing, his courting, and his financial studies, Lunmer Andrest was a busy youth. He did not see Sue Belle the next day on account of his fishing, and on the day after that he went down to Deerport to talk to Urgone about the twenty-three hundred dollars that he had in the bank. The money was not yet at work, as he understood it, and he wanted to put it to work. ”

“ If there are lots of fish, they are cheap; if there aren't many, they bring good money?"
"Yes, sir."
"You catch a good many in a year?"
"Right smart—I've caught as much as sixty dollars' worth one week; and then again I haven't had enough to ship. They want fifty pounds, anyhow, unless it's game fish."
"Sixty dollars a week is good money. Spend most of it?"
"I don't know—oh, I get new boots, and maybe a shirt or pair of jeans. Nets cost right smart, too. A man spends a good deal, take it the year around." ”

“ If I ain't there, wait for me till I come, or till day. You see, I want to talk to you right bad. Sue Belle.
"Sho!" Andrest exclaimed. "Course I will!"
He paused only to add his revolver holster to the automatic holster which he always wore now. He picked up his heavy rifle in starting out, and with a long stride he rapidly covered the distance to the river trace, up which he hurried to the Clinchell plantation. There he circled far out in the cotton-field to avoid passing the mansion and going anywhere near the quarters. ”

“ VIII Andrest watched old Chnchell depart, wondering what next. There was a good deal of satisfaction in the river youth's heart, The old planter was afraid of him! That could mean only one thing—Sue Belle had in some way given her father to understand that she liked the man who lived in a shanty-boat and trapped and fished for a living. ”

“ He kept the pamphlets open on the table, or folded in his pocket, ready for reference when he could not recall the exact wording of a sentence or paragraph or phrase.
"It is easier to make money than to invest it," he read, and he applied that to his own situation. ”