that to him. He's spoken 

 about it twice.".- 



The butcher was mention- 

 ed, the coal dealer, milkman, 

 and doctor. Together they 

 figured up what might be left 

 over when the bills were 

 paid. The amount was 

 nothing. Days, weeks, months 

 ahead, they saw nothing but 

 work and saving to meet bills 

 nothing to look forward to. 

 Should he lose his position or 

 should he become ill, there 

 would be no income, no way 

 in which to satisfy the little 

 bills, small as they were. 



"We're living, anyway," he 

 said, optimistically. "Maybe 

 something better will turn up 

 after a while." 



"I hope so," his wife re- 

 plied. "But it don't seem we 

 have much to look forward 

 to. I don't know what we'll 

 do when we're both very old. 

 Probably we can't stay to- 

 gether then." 



They finished the coffee 

 and just as daylight was 

 breaking he put on the frayed 

 coat and started off to the 

 works. 



All that day his wife's 



country made him happy. 



"We've got our strawber- 

 ries and raspberries all put 

 away," he added. We've got 

 four buckets of wild honey. 

 We've got potatoes to eat, to 

 sell and to give to those we 

 wish to help. I'm goin' to put 

 in the winter's wood this 

 month and next month the 

 season's open for deer and 

 we'll put away our venison. 

 Then this winter I'm goin' to 

 set some traps and I suspect 

 I can clean up a hundred dol- 

 lars or so on furs. We'll put 

 that in the bank, too. We'll 

 get some more books and 

 magazines and papers, and 



He stopped suddenly and 

 began again laboriously fig- 

 uring. 



"Do you know," he finally 

 added, "that with what we 

 had left from berries after 

 buying all our clothes and 

 with what we will make from 

 our potatoes, we'll have about 

 $1,000 in the bank this year?" 



"I know," his wife replied. 

 "And I know, too, that two 

 years ago, you was working 

 for $15 a week in the city and 

 we couldn't pay our bills. 

 And I was scared all the time 

 that you'd lose your job and 

 we'd end up in the poorhouse. 

 But we won't do that now. 

 I'm happy out here." 



