I guess we'll just have to force him to cut
those wires, as your little boy, Freddie, suggested."
"Yes, but how can we do it?" asked Mr. Bobbsey. "Mr. Hardee is very
headstrong, and set in his ways."
"Let me see," spoke Mr. Murphy slowly, "isn't his name Jake Hardee?"
"Yes, I believe it is."
"And didn't he buy from you the lumber to build his house?"
"Yes, I sold him the lumber, but he paid me for it," said Mr. Bobbsey.
"I couldn't get any hold on him that way. He paid for the lumber in
cash."
"Yes," cried Mr. Murphy, "but he got the money from me to pay you, and
he hasn't paid ME back. He still owes ME the money, and he gave me a
mortgage on his house as security. I've got a hold on him all right.
He owes me some interest money, too."
I might say to you little children that when a man wants to build a
house and has not enough money, he goes to another man and borrows
cash, just as your mamma sometimes borrows sugar, or tea, from the
lady next door.
When the man borrows money to build his house, he gives to the man who
lends him the cash, a piece of paper, called a mortgage. That paper
says that if the man who borrowed the money does not pay it back, and
also pay interest for the use of it, the man who lent him the money
can take the house. The house is "security" for the loaned money.
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