Nothing a Year 21 



of the corned-beef or the potatoes, or the cut of 

 Mrs. 's new dress. I have found by ex- 

 perience that systematic effort is essential in 

 order to begin any such reform as this. As I 

 shall have occasion to say elsewhere, without 

 some effort, the evening, after a long day out- 

 doors in the wind and on the water or in the 

 woods, will prove a drowsy and unprofitable 

 one. A few weeks' earnest determination not 

 to let one evening pass without the reading 

 aloud of some magazine article, or of a certain 

 number of pages of some book worth reading, 

 will result in permanent enjoyment; the sense 

 of exertion will disappear. There is a good 

 deal to be said in favor of the life of routine in 

 which every hour is laid out. 



To return to the tables of expense again, 

 some people might think that our bill of fare 

 for breakfast, lunch, and dinner meant semi- 

 starvation. We have been educated to like 

 oatmeal, for instance, and breakfast seldom 

 varies from oatmeal, bread and butter, coffee, 

 and eggs. For lunch there is sometimes fish 

 or oysters, or fruit, or a bit of cold meat. And 

 for dinner we have fish or meat, plenty of 



