Abbeville press. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1860-1869, 1866-08-24
AT cost Of not less than twenty dol

| <ANilau
we could hardly afford the parlor.'
Hardly said his friend. well, we
give up the parlor, and take pleasant
front chamber on the second floor, at fifteen
dollars week. But the hou.e is not
first-class, nor the location very desirable.
These are not to bo had in New York at
fifteen dollars a week. You canno, afford
for Rosa tho elegancies Of her present
home. Five dollars week more for
washing and et cctcras, and your income
is drawn upon at the rate Of one thousand
and forty dollars a year. One hundred
and sixty dollars left for clothing and all
other expenses! Aud, so far, it has takon
nearly three times that sum to meet your
| own demands. 1t has bad look, Adri ,
an
i was wasteful and sclc-indulgcnt,' re-
piled the young man, in Il voice from
which the confident tone had departed.
1t will scarcely cost Rosa and me for clo-
thing one-half Of what ! expended
Say ouc-bal3 and your income will not
reach the demand. What was your tail
or's bill last year?
Two hundred dollars
Say three hundred, including boots,
hats, ct cetera.'
Yes
You could hardly gel this below a hun
dred.'
Perhaps not
The youug mans voice was growing
husky.
That will leave sixty dollars for your
wiio's clothing, and nothing for pleasures,
recreaious, or unanticpatcd but unavod-
able expenses. And if it Le so with YOU
two in good health, what will Lc the con-
dition OF things in sickness, ans! with
children to support and educate? Adrian,
my young friend, there is debt, cm5arrass-
mcnt, disappointment, and miserable life
before you. Iause and rc,race your steps
before it is loo late. If you love Rosa,
spare her f'om This impending tate Leave
her i'll her Pheasant l.om,, or 10 grace :hat
Of a man better able Than you to provide
her with The external blessings of life.
You cannot marry on twelve hundred dol
lars year, and it is folly TO think of it,
we could get boarding for twelve dol
lars IL week. said Adrian.
THAT would scarcely help the matter at
all. at best, it would only make d;tlcr.
ence in the amount Of your Indebtedness
at the close Of each year. 1t is f,l!y to
think Of it, my young f,iend. You can't
afford to marry"
1T has da,k look, but there is 10 hold.
ing up now,' replied Adrian, in gloomy
way. 'We have mutually pledged each
other, and the day Of our marriage las
been appointed.
I'm sorry for you,' said the friend, a
bachelor OF forty, who, on An Income Of
two thousand a year, could see no possible
chance f'r happy marriage in the city
Of New York, and preferred celibacy to
the embarrassmcnts which he saw hun
dreds OF his friends encounter in their al
ternpts to live in a style out Of all proper
ton to their resources. I'm sorry, for you,
he repeated; 'but if you will bend your
neck to the yoke, you must not complain
Of the burden you fud yourself compelled
to bear
Strange as it may appear, the young
clerk, Henry Adrian, had never before
looked this matter Of income, expenditure,
and style Of living fairly in the front. The
actual aspect of the case, when clearly
seen, threw his mind into state of troubled
bewilderment. He went over and over
again the calculations suggested by Mr..
Blair, book-keeper in the establishment
where he was employed, cutting off little
from one proposed expenditure and anoth.
er, but not being able to get the cost Of
living down to tho range Of his salary,
except when the style was so far below
that in which his wife must move, that he
turned half sick from its contemplation.
The more steadily he looked at the truth,
! the more heavily CAME the pressure Of its
stony weight'upou his heart. To go for
ward was. little less than madpess, yet how
could he hold back now7
4 Rosa sat alone, reading, in one of her
uocle's handsome pa'lors, waiting for her
lover; He was later than; usual; so, LAKE
that her book begauto lose its interest, and
at las. lay closed on her lap, while shade