In the case of
Beatrice's money this was not so pronounced, but it was obvious that his
father had devoted the previous year to several unfortunate gambles in
oil. Very little of the oil had been burned, but Stephen Blaine had been
rather badly singed. The next year and the next and the next showed
similar decreases, and Beatrice had for the first time begun using her
own money for keeping up the house. Yet her doctor's bill for 1913 had
been over nine thousand dollars.
About the exact state of things Mr. Barton was quite vague and confused.
There had been recent investments, the outcome of which was for the
present problematical, and he had an idea there were further speculations
and exchanges concerning which he had not been consulted.
It was not for several months that Beatrice wrote Amory the full
situation. The entire residue of the Blaine and O'Hara fortunes
consisted of the place at Lake Geneva and approximately a half million
dollars, invested now in fairly conservative six-per-cent holdings.
In fact, Beatrice wrote that she was putting the money into railroad
and street-car bonds as fast as she could conveniently transfer it.
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