Stewart Edward White

“ And in that time I sold the old gentleman most the whole of Lake Michigan. Why, that noble body of water was the only thing in the world that ever kept us going. Mary'd come to me and say, 'Charley, the last potato's gone. I reckon we'll have to sell your father another lot.' and the old man always ponied up cheerfully, and gave us a lot of talk about the future of such a country, and how it was always wise to get right in at the start, and all that. ”

“ This is what he told me of his first real-estate holdings:
"My father," he began,"was a solid old capitalist of a small New England village. He had two hobbies. The first was, profitable investment. The second, a theory that every man should make his own way in life. As he had six boys, that developed a case of six mighty sad souls turned out to earn a living. ”

“ You see, I don't tumble to her game yet.
"'Right there: where I'm pointing: about a mile out.'
"'In the lake?' I yells.
"'Of course,' says she; 'we'll sell him that.'
"'You bet I lay down and howled with joy at the idea of selling the old man a lot a mile out in Lake Michigan, but she hauled me back mighty sober-minded, and did me the great moral-lecture act, and made me promise we would never do such a thing again. Mary was a mighty good woman. ”