The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1857-11-11
CHAPTER III.

'"o"'''o l''HIeIcd WIN tue young
men. BY prudent and careful manage.
ment, each had not only made a living,
but had been able 10 par n small portion
of the mortgage on the stock, al the end
of the frs, wear.
Joseph bad the advantage Of his friend
in furnItarc. Mrs. Weston's little parlor
looked exceedingly pleasant and confor.
table. Besides, 1t looked as though her
husband WAS prospering in business.
II was so very nice that the Young
wife could not bear the idea of having
the parIor shut up so no one could see it
tai the furniture had grown rusty ; con
seqnentIy size made up her mind ,hat they
mast have party.
Their friends had parties Why should
no, they Il looked siingy not to have
one. Mrs. Weston WAS an eloquent de.
batter. aud she gained the day'in the mat.
ter It's true tho party Was not n very
eHtravagan: affair, but it cost Joe some
!hv dollars. In the meantime, Ben had
pad quite as much :or advertising MS his
siicuG had for new furniture ard the par
". Joseph laughed Mt him, and finally
come to believe that he WAS insane, and
would certainly come to ruin in another
yeaf.
Mrs. Ben Weston too, felt decidedly
unpleasant about the Improvements
Winch had been going on in her sisters
house.
why cant We have rosewood table
aud set OF stuffed chairs, Benjamin ?
asked She, poutiug her pretty lips in Il
very unamahIe position.
Simply, my dear, because I can't az
ford it, replied the philosophical mer
chant
How can Joe afford it =
i presume he knows hs own business
best
lie has put over hundred dollars in
TO his house
Ben whis,ed 'T'other side Of Jordan,
and made no reply.
DO, Ben, buy some chairs
Can't sGord it,
Yes YOU cam
NO can't
You can afford it as well as Joe.'
Perhaps can
DO huy some
4 should be very glad to crafty you,
but cant take the money from the busi-
ness. A year hence, ii business have
prospcred with me, you shall have them
~ year hence pOuted the wife.
i must spend II hundred dollars in ad.
verIlsing The next quarter
How foolish
Very foolish, my dear, but it must be
done
That's the way sou throw your money
away-you don't catch Joe doing such IL
! thing as that
True, but though lie has the advan
tage Of a corner store, FaId three hun
dred dollars more on my mortgages inau
he did,
Then you surely can afford the table
and caairs.'
Nay, my dear. | will not spend dol.
lar for superiluties whiel AIN in debt
Mrs Ben Weston felt very badly about
ii, but her husband was firm. and she
WAS forced to content herself with the
plain furniture.
Mrs. Joe Weston enjoyed her nice par
lor I'LL the novelty wore away, and then
she discovered that there was great
many other articles wAUted TO make
things look uniform. The TWO windows
must have drspery curtains, pier.gisss
was needed, and some pictures were want
Ing TO relieve the watts. Her husband,
who had once exceeded the limits Of his
means, found no great difficulty in doing
so again, and the things were bought.
But Joe had soTe scruplss about it.
His notes began Ito be troublesome, and
every day he ~ss in the street borrowing
money. Ills business, too, had not met
his expectations. Instead OF increasing
in the ratio Of last years experience, il
hardly held its own, aud the poor fellow
began to have some serious misgivings
about the future.
Before the year had half expired, he
was obliged 10 introduce a rigid system
Of reireuchment INTO his family aud bust
ness affairs, in order to keep his expenses
within his income.
CHAPTER III,