Part 14 (1/2)

”It was nothing at all,” said d.i.c.k, modestly. ”I could swim like a duck, and I didn't mind the wetting.”

”But you ran the risk of drowning.”

”I didn't think of that.”

”If you had been a coward or a selfish boy, it would have been the first thing you would have thought of. So Mr. Rockwell gave you this place in acknowledgment of your service. I am glad he did. You deserve it.”

”He has done more,” said d.i.c.k. Then he related the events of the evening previous, and told Mr. Murdock of the two gifts he had received. ”So, with the money I had before, I have now eleven hundred dollars,” d.i.c.k concluded. ”Shall I leave it in the savings bank, or can I do better with it?”

”I'll tell you what I think will be a good investment,” said Mr.

Murdock. ”I know a party who owns four adjoining lots on Forty-Fifth Street. He is pressed for money, and wishes to dispose of them. He offered them to me at twenty-two hundred dollars, half cash. I offered him a thousand dollars cash for two of them, but he wishes to sell the whole together. I think it will be an excellent speculation, for the laying out of Central Park is carrying up the price of lots in the neighborhood rapidly.”

”Why didn't you buy them, then?”

”Because I didn't want to buy anything that I couldn't pay for at once.

I've got a wife and three children to look out for, and so I can save money but slowly. If I only had myself to take care of, I wouldn't hesitate.”

”Can't we club together, and buy it?” suggested d.i.c.k, eagerly.

”That is just what I was going to propose. I think the owner will take two thousand dollars down for the lots. That will be a thousand dollars apiece. I've got that money, and so have you. What do you think of it?”

”Tip-top,” said d.i.c.k, enthusiastically. ”It's just what I'd like to do.”

”Of course it wouldn't bring us in anything, but would, instead, be an expense for the present, as we should have to pay taxes on it. On the other hand, you could invest the money in bank-stock, so as to receive seventy or eighty dollars annually at interest. You must decide which investment you prefer. The land we may have to keep on hand four or five years, paying taxes yearly.”

”But the price'll go up.”

”There is no doubt of that. The city is extending northwards rapidly. I shouldn't be surprised if the lots would bring a thousand dollars apiece in less than five years. This would be equal to a very handsome interest.”

”I'm in for buying 'em,” said d.i.c.k. ”So, if you'll see the owner, I'll have the money all ready whenever you want it.”

”Very well, but perhaps you would like to see them first. We'll manage to get off an hour earlier than usual this afternoon, and go up and take a look at them.”

”It seems to me Mr. Murdock and that boy are pretty thick together,”

said the book-keeper, glancing through the gla.s.s part.i.tion. He could see that they were conversing earnestly, but of course couldn't hear a word that was said. ”What he or Mr. Rockwell can see in the young rascal pa.s.ses my comprehension.”

He called sharply to d.i.c.k, and ordered him to go to the post-office for letters.

”All right,” said d.i.c.k.

”And mind you don't loiter by the way,” said the book-keeper, sharply.

”You were gone long enough at the bank this morning. Did you come right back?”

”No,” said d.i.c.k.

”Why didn't you?”