he was in great spirits. He would bring home the little canvas sack of
coin with him before banking it, and call his son's attention to the
amount, never failing to stick a twenty-dollar gold-piece in each eye,
monocle fashion, exclaiming, "Good for the masses," a meaningless jest
that had been one of the family's household words for years.

His plan of building was peculiar. His credit was good, and having
chosen his lot he would find out from the banks how much they would loan
him upon it in case he should become the owner. If this amount suited
him, he would buy the lot, making one large payment outright and giving
his note for the balance. The lot once his, the banks loaned him the
desired amount. With this money and with money of his own he would make
the final payment on the lot and would begin the building itself,
paying his labour on the nail, but getting his material, lumber, brick
and fittings on time. When the building was half-way up he would
negotiate a second loan from the banks in order to complete it and in
order to meet the notes he had given to his contractors for material.

He believed this to be a shrewd business operation, since the rents as
they returned to him were equal to the interest on a far larger sum than
that which he had originally invested. He said little about the double
mortgage on each piece of property "improved" after this fashion and
which often represented a full two-thirds of its entire value. The
interest on each loan was far more than covered by the rents; he chose
his neighbourhoods with great discrimination; real estate was
flourishing in the rapidly growing city, and the new houses, although
built so cheaply that they were mere shells of lath and plaster, were
nevertheless made gay and brave with varnish and cheap mill-work. They
rented well at first, scarcely a one was ever vacant. People spoke of
the Old Gentleman as one of the most successful realty owners in the