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RICHES—OR JUST A COMPETENCE? 579
thousands of others just like it. I have
not yet, however, finished my story.
Other chapters are to follow. And when
the various parts have been narrated and
analyzed, I believe a philosophy of business
practice will have been presented of
value to nearly every one.
"In those dreary Kansas days, my
parents had learned the value of every
dollar they chanced to acquire. So the
few extra dollars that were left over and
above my father's pay were now carefully
hoarded away in the bank. Father,
though in some ways an impractical
dreamer, was a methodical man. He
saved a stipulated amount monthly, jind
my mother surprised him from time to
time by adding to the little hoard money
she had saved out of her allowance for
household expenses.
"Father was again dreaming—now instead
of success as a farmer he was going
to become a big business man. At least that
is what he planned. It was for this end
that all of us economized and stinted,
almost to the point of pinching. By this
method, at the end of five long years,
father had accumulated about a thousand
dollars. Then he found an opportunity
to go, in a small way, into the
business of buying hides and wool. The
owner of the concern was in ill health,
would sell out for a song, and would wait
a long time for the balance of his payments.
So with the remarkable optimism
that characterized my father up to the
day of his death, he made the new venture.
He was not well versed in the ways
of the hide and wool industry. How­
ever, he felt that with his farming and
general business knowledge he ought to
be able to make a go of it. He had not
expected to go into commerce on so small
a capital, but the opening had suddenly
appeared, and he felt that he could not
afford to miss the chance.
"For a time things seemed to prosper.
I was still in school, for my father was of
a race that believed in education for the
children. He did not believe children
were brought into the world for the sole
purpose of helping support their parents.
I knew nothing, therefore, of the
actual details of the business. I was
hardly twelve then, but was keenly alert
to the importance of the success of the
enterprise. You see, not for a single
moment were we permitted to escape
from the shadow of my father's ambition.
"Let me cite an instance of this. On
one occasion, after many weeks of saving,
I found myself in possession of exactly
one dollar. It so happened that it
was springtime and that a ball and bat
could be purchased for that amount. It
was with the end in view of making just
such a purchase that I had been accumulating
my pennies. Innocently I told
my mother of my wealth and my purpose.
Horror-stricken, she exclaimed : 'Why,
child, you mustn't waste money like that!
It should go into father's business!"
And dutifully, though with many a sad
qualm for the joys I would miss, I turned
the money over to my mother's secret
hoard.
"One day father came home looking
downcast. T am afraid,' he said, T shall
find it difficult to make the business a go.
Some of my customers want credit and
I've got to pay cash for most of what I
buy. I'll have to borrow money to tide
me over.'
"Right here father felt the need of
financial connections. Credit was hard
to get. The banks wherever he applied
admitted that his business looked good,
but there was the original owner's mortgage
upon it, and besides, what did he
know about the hide and wool business?
He was honest, yes, but he had had no ex-