All of these, too, had particular friends, and within ten days Mr.Belcher had pocketed in his library the munificent sum of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

After a reasonable period, each investor received a certificate of his stock through the mail.
It was astonishing to learn that there was so much money in the village.
It came in sums of one hundred up to five hundred dollars, from the most unexpected sources--little hoards that covered the savings of many years.

It came from widows and orphans; it came from clergymen; it came from small tradesmen and farmers; it came from the best business men in the place and region.
The proprietor was in daily communication with his confederates and tools, and the investors were one day electrified by the information that the Continental had declared a monthly dividend of two per cent.
This was what was needed to unload Mr.Belcher of nearly all the stock he held, and, within one month of his arrival from the oil-fields, he had realized a sum sufficient to pay for his new purchase in the city, and the costly furniture with which he proposed to illuminate it.
Sevenoaks was happy.

The sun of prosperity had dawned upon the people, and the favored few who supposed that they were the only ones to whom the good fortune had come, were surprised to find themselves a great multitude.

The dividend was the talk of the town.