Page:The Wizard of Wall Street and his Wealth.djvu/32

 his board when going to school thus speaks of his conduct at that early date:

"He was an excellent boy. His habits were good and he devoted most of his evenings to study. He was always the first one up in the morning, and he had the fire burning and the tea-kettle boiling by the time my wife was ready to prepare breakfast."

It was while working in the tin store, shortly after this, that Gould took part in a transaction in which one cannot fail to recognize one of the distinctive traits of his future business career. If the king of Wall street never went hunting for snipes with a brass band, neither did the country lad. The merchant for whom he was working also did a real-estate business. His employer was negotiating for the purchase of some property belonging to an estate in chancery, and Jay carried on the correspondence for him. By virtue of his position he thus learned the particulars of a bargain which his employer desired to make on the piece of land. The executor demanded twenty-five hundred dollars, but the would-be purchaser offered only two thousand dollars. Jay undertook a little investigation on private account, and became convinced that the property was bound to appreciate in value. While the negotiations were in progress, Jay borrowed twenty-five hundred dollars of his father, and outbidding his employer, quietly scooped in the property. He had the deed made out in his father's name, and within two weeks sold out for four thousand dollars. It is said that