Have you any money?"
It so happened that at this time John's savings were invested in a few
bonds of an old and conservatively managed railroad. His heart fell. He
didn't want to buy any bank stock.
"No," he answered. "My salary is small enough and I need it all. I don't
save any money."
"Oh, well," said the magnate, "I will try and fix it up for you. I will
arrange for a loan with the ---- Bank on the stock. Remember, I'm doing
this to help you. That is all. You may go back to your books."
Next day John was informed that he had bought five shares of ---- Trust
Company stock in the neighborhood of three hundred, and he signed a note
for one thousand four hundred and twenty-five dollars, and indorsed the
stock over to the bank from which the money had been borrowed for him.
The stock almost immediately dropped over fifty points. John paid the
interest on the note out of his salary, and the dividends, as fast as
they were declared, went to extinguish the body of the loan. Some time
afterward he learned that he had bought the stock from the magnate
himself. He never received any benefit from it, for the stock was sold
to cover the note, and John was obliged to make up the difference.
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