Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1890-11-13
THE MORTGAGE.

n
Nearly Lost the Wheel.
John Moneypenny asked his father to
buy him bicycle. He had outgrown
his velocipede, but he had not money
enough for a Columbia. His father
thought this would be a good oppor-
tunity to teach John a little business.
What can you get one for?" he said.
John said that Dick Header had very
good one which he was willing to sell
for twenty-five dollars. 1t was worth a
good deal more.
How much money have you got?"
John said that he had saved up about
fifteen dollars.
81 can not buy bicycle for you,"
said mis- father, but | will help you buy
one if you want me to. How long will
it take you to save the other temp"
John calculated it would take him
three months.
"Well," said his father, II will lend
you ten dollars to put with your fifteen
to buy the bicycle with, on two condi-
tions: the first is that you give me a
mortgage on the bicycle to secure the
repayment of the ten dollars, and in
terest at the rate of one cent week
until the loan is paid; the other condi-
ton is that the bicycle shall be in good
order, and kept in good order, for if you
don't pay me my ten dollars and have
to take the bicycle and sell it to get my
money back, it will not sell very we'll if
it is out of order"
John negotiated the bargain with
Dick Header. and reported to his father,
who said: NOW you must write bill
of sale for Dick to sign, which will al
ways afterward prove that the bicycle
belongs to you, and that you paid for
it." So John wrote, at his fathers
dictation:
Il, Dick Header, have this day sold
my bicycle to John Moneypenny, and
he has paid me for it twenty-five dollars
in full.
This was Laid away for Dick to sign
when the time should come
Next" said his father, I'VE want a
mortgage of the bicycle, from you to
me-" So John wrote again, at his ia
theirs dictation:
l, John Moneypenny, have this day
assigned, and transferred to my father,
my bicycle which have just bought of
Dick Header, to secure my father the
payment of ten dollars lent me by him,
which I am to repay in three months,
with interest at one cent per week until
the principal is paid; and am to keep
the bicycle in good order at all times.
And in case of any default on my part,
my father is at liberty to take the
bicycle and sell it, and retain out of the
proceeds what | owe him, paying me the
balance, if any"
THAT evening Dick came to the
house with the bicycle to get the money
John produced his fifteen dollars out of
a drawer and tin savings bank and
purse, and his father produced his ten
dollars from his wallet. Dick signed
the bill of sale; John signed the mort
gage; his father handed John the ten
dollars, and took the mortgage John
put the ten dollars with his fifteen dol
lars and handed them to Dick, and took
the bill of sale and the bicycle.
That evening there was great fun on
the sidewalk.
A few weeks afterward John missed
his bicycle. He was making a great
hue and cry, when his mother told him
she had seen it in his fathers library
John hurried to the library, and was
amazed to see it there with little pla-
card on it bearing the words For
SALE" lie jumped at it to carry it off,
but he found that it was securely tied
just then his father came in. ''Well,
John. said he, do you know any one
that wants to buy a bicycle? | want to
sell this one. a"
Why" said John, who does this
bicycle belong to? 1t is mine.
mo" said his father; you made de-
fault in your interest last week"
.Nell, that wasn't my fault" said
John. Il was away, and l forgot all
about it"
Il didn't say it was your fault, re-
piled his father "but you were in de-
fault; and that gave me the right to
take the bicycle and sell it to get back
my money
John produced the penny to hand it to
his father, with a grave expression
which relaxed into a smile as he saw his
father, upon receiving it. take off the
sale label and unlash the machine and
surrender it to him. AS he was going
out of the door, he turned and said;
Father who does this bicycle belong
to, any way? Itdoesn't seem as if it was
mine"
Eyes, said his father, 'ftis yours,
subject to a mortgage. / have got a
pull on it, as the boys say, and can take
it away from you, perhaps. 1t IS yours
subject to an incum brance, now. If you
succeed in saving up ten dollars within
three months, besides the interest, then
it will belong to you free and clear.
At the end Of the three months,
when the mortnage matured. as the