The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1874-12-31


you are not three times as much in debt
as you are. The remedy IS plain. Don't
you see it?'
"lf | We're even with the world, I see
how might not only keep out Of debt,
but save something every year. But
what am I to do with this debt z" asked
Ellie, gloomily.
s'To keep on in the way you have been
going VIII not help to pay it Of. -
''No; that is clear enough. y
''You have been going in the wrong
way, Nj. Ellis, continued the neighbor.
IF you keep on in that way, trouble,
worry, humiliation and final disaster are
sure to come. You must stop, turn
around, and go the other way. Every
step you take in this new way viii lead
you toward pecuniary ease and comfort
OF mind: It viii be better with you in
three months from to-day, if you have
cut down your ordinary expenditures
which may be done-two hundred and
fifty dollars, than if you had not cut
them down at all. You will not only
have ightened the burden of debt Just
SO much, but have laid the foundation
of new order of things that will lead
you to apleasantand prosperous future"
Mr. Ellis sat in silent thought for a
long time. Then, looking up, he said,
with deep sigh: 81 shall not have
dollar of ready money to begin with.
I can raise viii have to be
exhausted on these bills, or shall be
tormented out Of my life. I must pay
a little here. and q little there; put this
one off with a promise, and that one
with a frowning denial Oh, dear, what
a miserable life it is 4! And I must keep
the grocer's pass-book going, or starve. +"
cash down. It must be cash down -
exclaimed the neighboE- ''There is no
other hope for you -
''But where is the cash to come from?"
'sReserve enough from the payment
of bills to keep your table and pay your
wages. Take your wife fully
into your confidence. Lay your affairs
all open before her. Put the money
needed for expenses into her hands, and
ask her to make il go as far as possible.
Spend nothing yourself. In fact, don't
cary money about you. It Is tempta-
ton"
Mr. Ellis drew long, deep breath.
eff I had clear one hundred dollars
to start with, - he said.
The neighbor understood him, and
would have cheerfully placed that sum
at his disposal; but he did not think it
well. 1t would be best for Nh. Ellis, in
the end, if he worked out his own pecu-
MARY salvation.
''To meet difficulties and overcome
them, % he replied, ''gives us discipline
and strength. It isn't the hundred dol
lars you want, but the courage and re-
solution to turn about squarely and go
in a new direction. It viii be easier to
walk therein than in the old way-a
hundred times easier
And so our friend found it. Let us
see how it is with him twelve months
Happy New Year, 4 bright face
looked into the chamber, as it had look
ed year ago; sweet voice rang through
it in tones Of music.
''Happy New Year, darling!' answered
Mr.. Ellis, in a CHEEKY voice, not now
stopping III sort OF mechanical way to
kiss the child, but catching her up in
his arms and hugging her tightly.
"Happy New Yeart' met him on the
stairs and at the breakfast table; and he
flung the greeting back with hearth
ness Of enjoyment and q hgntness Of
spirit never felt before.
The door-bell rang as he sat at the
table. But the sound Jared no nerve,
awakened 10 troubled feeling, brought
no image of an unpaid bill. True, there
were unpaid bills, but none Of recent
date; none but what had been adjusted
to mutual satisfaction. Their aggre-
gate, instead Of being fifteen hundred
dollars, was scarcely six hundred, and
this sum he expected to wipe of, in less
than six months.
Happy New Yeur!"
How swiftly time flies. Twelve months
had come and gone again.
cit is happy New Year the hap
piest have ever known" responded
Mr.. Ellis to the New Years greeting Of
his little wife, and he kissed her in
wild, frolicsome way. 81 feel like a
boy. Happy New Yer,
darlingsl p catching up his little ones