Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1872-05-02
lets sit down and eat supper. and

we will look the matter over.
And after supper they went at the
work Hattie took the bill and piece
of blank paper, and followed the items
down with her pencil.
| ''First, she said, sis a box of figs, at
| fifteen cents pound. 1t was very
! cheap, no doubt; but the eight pounds
came to dollar and twenty cents. Had
you been required to pay cash, you
! would not have bought them. You
would, at least, have asked me if | liked
them, and | should have told You no.
| Next we have a gallon of golden syrup,
which we did not need, and for which
you would not have paid cash without
consulting me-"
And so she went on, and in the end
she had cut down the bill, by throwing
out articles which they had not abso-
lutely needed, to less than fifteen dol
lars.
A dollar here had not seemed much to
George, and a dollar and half there,
and then seyenty-five cents, and then
! only fifty cents; but there had been
twenty visits to the store during the
month, and the aggregate of these tri-
vial sums were considerable.
George saw the whole thing, and he
knew his wife had been right from the
! first.
Don't say a word," he said Il see
the mistake. But I'll have to work
around the right track by degrees"
Glow so? George"
'Why-I haven't money enough left
of my months wages to quite pay this
bill; so | shall be utterly unable to en-
ter upon the cash principle at present "
There need be no difficulty in that
direction" said Hattie. II have not
quite spent all my little capital. [ had
already fixed it for a bit of a nest-egg;
and | don't know as it could be put to a
better use than the laying of a founda-
ton for cash payments. At any rate,
George, let us try it for while"
George kissed his wife, and said she
was blessing; and he promised he
would follow her advice in the future.
| He took the money which she had to
! give, and held it as a loan, which he was
to return at the earliest possible mo-
ment and he felt an ambition, too, to
see how speedily he could do it.
And on Monday morning the new rule
of life went into operation. George paid
Mr.. Skidd's bill, and told him that here
after he should pay cash for everything
| he bought. The storekeeper pooh
hooed, and said there was no need of it.
"Bless you, my boy, l had as lief trust
you as not"
Il do not doubt it, Mr. Skidd but
prefer not to be trusted. | would rather
consume my own groceries than con-
sumo yours. A bill is an evil at best,
and | don't choose to have evils growing
on my hands if | can help it Mr..
Skidd saw very plainly that his custom
| ers vision was clear, and he said no
| more.
On the evening of that very Monday,
Mr.. Skidd exhibited to George some eX-
ira nice preserves, and the young mans
first impulse was to order pot of them
but the taking out of his wallet and the
breaking of a five-dOllar bill, was pal
atable reminder; and he concluded that
he could get along without them. Said
he to himself
"These seemingly tritiing sums if
save them, will at the end of the month.
add up as greatly in my favor as they
have heretofore added up against me.
And he found it 50. And he found
one more thing in his favor from cash
payments, which he had not particularly
counted upon. AS he had the money in
hand to pay for the articles which he
had planned to purchase, he could buy
| it where he could get it best and cheap
est. Traders are not willing to lose
cash customers; and they do only 1.-The
fair thing when they sell to such a Gus
toner cheaper than they sell to others.
Not only is the interest of the money
on account an important item in the az
| gregate Of many accounts, but the keep
ing of that account in day-book and
ledger is an expense. George very soon
learned all this and he found that even
Mr.. Skidd sold to him during this month
of cash payments, cheaper than he had
sold during the previous month.
And as the months rolled on, George
Brown opened no more accounts with
traders He found that in paying cash
he was constantly reminded of the value
of each separate sum as he counted it
out, and was hence not likely to pur-
chase what he did not need And then
he had goal ahead which he had deter
mined to reach as speedily as possible;
and by his system of cash payment he
could estimate at the close Of each day
the gain he was making toward the de
sired end.
In two months he paid what Hr ha1
| borrowed from his wife, and she pat If
into the common fund, and in five y..a.~
his home was his own, and he owed TO
man anything but love and good will.