Chicago and Northwestern.' And when I told her that I thought this was
really unreasonable, she was firm. 'Yes,' she replied, 'I don't like the
names--not most of them, at least. Dutchess and Columbia Traction sounds
pretty well; and besides that, of course one knows how successful these
electric railways are. But take the Standard Egg Trust, and the Patent
Pasteurised Infant Rubber Feeder Company.'"

"'Why, Ethel!' I exclaimed, 'those are both based upon great inventions,
Mr. Beverly--'"

"But she interrupted me earnestly 'I know about those inventions,
Richard, for I have procured the prospectuses. And I wish that I could
have told you my own feeling about them before you bought any of the
stock.'"

"'I do not think you can fully have taken it in, Ethel.'"

"'I trust that it may not have fully taken you in,' she replied. 'Have
you noticed what those stocks are selling for at present?'"

"Of course I had noticed this. I had paid 63 for Standard Egg, and it was
now 48, while 11 was the price of Patent Pasteurized Feeder, for which I
had paid 20. But this, Mr. Beverly assured me, was a normal and even
healthy course for a new stock. 'Had they gone up too soon and too high,'
he explained, 'I should have suspected some crooked manipulation and
advised selling at once. But this indicates a healthy absorption
preliminary to a natural rise. I should not dream of letting mother part
with hers.'"

"The basis of Standard Egg was not only a monopoly of all the hens in the