Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1876-02-04
you may rest assured we shall be very

| SOOu OpllllOn Ol nllllSell anu CIetiit.
and of the storekeeper in particular
Only one dollar! Yes-only one
dollar on the storekeeper's ledger
that's of no account. But a dollar
right out of ones pocket-that was
different. Charles would not have
bought them had he been obliged to
pay the cash at the time.
"Ah, Matthews, look here; | have
something nice to show you" This
was said by the trader to the young
man the very morning after the pur-
chase OF the pickles. And so Mr.
Waldron led our hero to the back of
the store and opened box. ''There
Matthews, aren't those splendid or
anges?"
"They are nice,' replied Charles
And so they really were.
II know your wife would like some
of those. l carried some home to my
wife and she wanted me to save hel
three or four dozen"
"These are nice. How high arc
they?"
"Let me see; can send you ur
three dozen for dollar | got these
very cheap. You know they are re
failing at five cents apiece"
eyes. Well, you may send me uT
three dozen. just charge it, if you
please"
"Certainly. Anything else this
morning?"
81 believe not"
And so Matthews went on. This
morning it would be q dollar-to
morrow, perhaps, fifty cents-and
then again, perhaps only twenty-five
cents. 1t didn't seem much. The
young man had just as much money
in his pocket as though he had not
bought them.
"Only dollar" he would say to
himself. "That isn't much out OF
twelve dollars a week" And il
might not be; but the trouble was
that the next dollar was called one
dollar, and he would forget to add ii
to the other dollar and call it two
dollars; and with the next dollar and
call it three dollars, and SO on.
One evening Charles came home
with new gold chain attached tc
his watch
"Where did you get that?" asked
his wife.
"Ah," returned the husband, with
an impressive shake of the head, 81
made bargain on this cham. Now
guess how much l paid for it"
81 am sure l could not guess"
go, but try-guess something"
"Well, perhaps ten dollars" :"
"Ten dollars?" echoed Charles,
with disappointed look. "Why,
what are you thinking of? Jack
Smith bought this chain two months
ago, and paid twenty dollars for it
Why, just lift it and see how heavy
it is. Eighteen carats fine. Jack
was hard up for money, and let me
have it for twenty dollars.
at is cheap, to be sure" replied
Hannah, but not with such pleasure
BILE surprise as her husband had ex,
pected. 'But," she added, "you did
not need it, and | fear you will feel
the loss of the money"
"Pooh. / have money enough
You know l have spent very little
lately. l have been pretty saving.'
"But, Charles, you forget our
things. The money which you have
on hand is not ours"
"Not minem he exclaimed.
"No, it belongs to the storekseper,
aud to the butcher, and to our land
lord. You know they must all be
paid"
Don't you fret about them.
know it don't cost anywhere near
twelve dollars week to live, for !
have made an estimate. There is
Wilkins, who works beside me at the
shop; he has four children and only
gets the same wages as | do, and yet
he lays up two or three dollars each
week"
EYES," said Hannah, 81 know he
does. | was in TO see his wife the
other day, and she was telling me
how they get along. Mr.. Wilkin.
takes his basket twice a week aud
gets his meat and vegetables, and
trades for cash, and so gets every
thing to the very best advantage
SO he does at the store He lays in
a good quantity of these articles
which will keep, and buys butter,
eggs, apples and such things by the
quantity when the market is full, and
they are cheap, and he always buys
enough to last his family over the
season of scarcity, when such things
are high. His butter, for instance,
he bought for twenty-five cents per
pound, a frkin of it-and it is much
sweeter than that for which you pad
forty-eight cents yesterday"
"Forty-eight cents!" repeated the
young man, in surprise.
eyes. Iasked,M Mr. Waldront'sman
when he brought it up, and he said it
had risen to forty-eight cents. Mr..
Wilkins got twenty dozen of eggs
sometime ago for twenty cents a doz-
Ell, and his wife packed them down,
and they kept well. You will have
to pay Mr.. Waldron fifty cents for
those he sent up yesterday"
Charles Matthews was somewhat
astonished at this view of the case,
but it could not be helped now, and
the subject was dropped. His gold
chain had lost it's charm. 1t did not
look so well even IN his own eyes as
the old black cord which he had
worn.
At length the end Of the quarter
came around. The first bill was the
rent, which amounted to thirty-one
dollars. The next was the butchers
bill of thirty-six dollars. Charles was
astonished to see how his meat bill
footed up. But when he saw how
many steaks he had had at thirty
cents pound, the cause of the won
der disappeared. Next he paid the
bakers bill, which was thirteen dol
lard. When he came home in the
evening he had paid all his bills cx-