“I don’t think that would pay,” said my father, shaking his head.
“There is hardly a boat to let, either in Middleport or Centreport. I think a boat kept for parties of pleasure would pay well. There are plenty of people who want to go up the lake fishing; and there would be a great many more if a decent boat were to be had.”
“Well, Wolf, you have made your own money, and you are smart enough to take care of it yourself. If you want to go into a speculation on your own account, I haven’t a word to say. But what will this boat cost?”
“Of course I don’t mean to pay anything like her value. If she can be bought at a low figure, I can do something with her, even if I have to sell her.”
“They say she cost five or six hundred dollars.”
“I should say she could not be built and fitted up for anything less than six hundred. I am willing to go one hundred on her. If I can buy her for that, I can turn her again so as to double my money,” I continued confidently.
“I don’t know. A boat is either the best or the worst property in the world.”
“I know that. It is October now, and the boating-season is about over, though there is considerable fishing done up the lake. Not many people want to buy a boat in the fall, and for that reason she won’t bring much.”
“Here is the hundred dollars. If you can buy her for that, I think you will be safe enough,” added my father, as he took the bills from the bureau drawer.
I was very fond of boating, and would rather have made my living in that way than any other; but while I could get two, or even one dollar a day for running an engine, I could not afford to risk my chances with a boat. I was out of business now. I had been contemptuously discharged from the Lake Shore Railroad, and, not a little to my chagrin, Colonel Wimpleton, who had made me liberal offers to serve in his new steamer, did not repeat them. My father also was out of employ, and, though we were not likely to suffer at present for the want of work, we could ill afford to be idle.