“Good morning, Mr. Colwell. I know I am an awful bother to you, but——”
“You are greatly mistaken, Mrs. Hunt.”
“You are very kind. You see, I don’t exactly understand about those bonds. I thought you could tell me. I’m so stupid,” archly.
“I won’t have you prevaricate about yourself, Mrs. Hunt. Now, you gave me $35,000, didn’t you?”
“Yes.” Her tone indicated that she granted that much and nothing more.
“Well, I opened an account for you with our firm. You were credited with the amount. I then gave an order to buy one hundred bonds of $1,000 each. We paid 96 for them.”
“I don’t follow you quite, Mr. Colwell. I told you”—another arch smile—“I was so stupid!”
“It means that for each $1,000–bond $960 was paid. It brought the total up to $96,000.”
“But I only had $35,000 to begin with. You don’t mean I’ve made that much, do you?”
“Not yet, Mrs. Hunt. You put in $35,000; that was your margin, you know; and we put in the other $61,000 and kept the bonds as security. We owe you $35,000, and you owe us $61,000, and——”