THE STRAWBERRY GARDEN. 129 



for Johnny, a brave idea struggled in his mind, and he was 

 restless and wakeful. 



Having safely tucked them in, let us briefly consider 

 their case. A very worldly set of people, the reader re- 

 marks. Not a doubt of it ; yet, in drawing this picture 

 the writer fancies that he has been true to nature. Thou- 

 sands of families keep in their best closet just such a miser- 

 able little skeleton as this, and gaze upon it in precisely 

 this very human way. Did the really best society depend 

 upon money alone, such views would be despicable. As, 

 happily, it depends, in this country at least, more upon 

 brains and education, the seeking for it is not so very 

 bad. 



To aspire to a high position is wise and honorable. The 

 higher one goes, the less are life's temptations and the 

 easier it is to be virtuous. The lower we descend, the 

 greater they become, till actual poverty is reached, where 

 crime has become proverbial. The so-called u criminal 

 classes " are always the desperately poor and uneducated. 



The society in which these people sought to maintain 

 themselves was that of the average American of common 

 and high school education, society such as is found among 

 the doctors and lawyers in a New England village, or the 

 commercial classes in our large towns and cities. 



In view of these things, let us look farther into the 

 doings and sayings, struggles and triumphs, of this family 

 in their endeavors to keep up in the world. 



