The Literary echo, and Pawcatuck advertiser. [volume] (Westerly, R.I.) 1851-1854, 1853-05-12
Grlcftr0.
DEPENDENCE.

Don't forget to give me some money
before you leave" said Mrs. Dean to
her larger half.
I" Money!! What now' You want
another silk dress, don't you' These
women are forever wanting something.
gave you dollar yesterday. What
has become of that :"
Mrs. Dean bit her lip with suppressed
emotion, and colored deeply. She was
accustom to such outbreaks but there
was more bitterness in his tone than
usual, which made it less bearable.
How much money do you want, and
what do you want it for :" demanded Mr.
Dean, after slight pause.
Il want three or four dollars-enough
to buy collar and pair of gloves"
"Ihree Or fur doAarS and il s three
or four dollars every day. These con-
slant demands will make beggar of
me-"
Then we shall be on the same foot
ing," quietly returned the wife.
Here," said Mr.. Dean, handing her
SIX dollars and a school bill "This
bill was sent to me last night, and Mary's
teacher will doubtless call to-day for the
amount. 1t is only three twenty-five,
and the balance you can have for your
furbelows +"
Mr.. Dean tripped along the pavement,
recognizing with gracious smile, almost
every person he met. Arriving at his
office, he found his clerk, and inquired
Did you get through with those ac-
counts last MI ght ?"
Yes, and the balance sheet presents
a handsome sum in your favor. You
are worth not less than $l5O,0OO
The employer looked we'll pleased,
though this was not far from his own
calculation He fell into fit of musing
/" And my business" thought he, /" is
worth $4,000 per annum. Then about
100000 of this is so invested that it
brings me eight per cent. ! hare been
very lucky That railroad stock has
been very profitable, and my last COM
mercial venture was very successful
My expenses, too, are rather light. My
wife is an economist Very few persons
spend as little as We do, and live as
handsomely" And the rich man con
graduated himself upon the po session
Of wealth. and his large income, and his
economical wife, and was thencefor tn
unusually affible and oblging to all who
came in his way.
Let us return home. There sits his
wife, where we left her, intently busy in
making pair of cuffs. They were
finely wrought, and would correspond
with the three dollar collar that she saw
yesterday, and intended to purchase
And why did Mrs. Dean consume her
liie-force in elaborate needle work 4
Every little stitch diminished the power
of the optic nerve /; every half hour thus
employed was needed for other purposes
She felt this; but elaborate work must
be worn, and such work her purse did
not permit her to buy. Disq.iatude
was very apparent after her husbands
departure. IN occasional frown might
have been seen, and her face alternately
paled and flushed
AS if back upon her brain
The hot blood, ebbed and flowed again"
"When We were poor, it was not
thus" said she to herself " A dollar
then was expended less grudgingly than
now. And it is so humiliating to ask,
as though you We're beggar, and re-
ceive as though it were a CHARITY, every
cent you spend We certainly have
enough expended upon our living, but it
is all for show, and very little comfort.
1t it would answer for me to wear calico
dresses and cotton gloves, would I
willingly do it, and then would my dress
harmonize throughout But no; my
exterior must be like that of the wife of I
a millionaire, while such a dearth of
really necessary clothing but few women {
would be able to exhibit. Our furniture