Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1876-03-15

wife, and she wanted me to save her
three or four dozen"
These are nice. How high are
they?"
"Let me see; / can send you up
three dozen for dollar | got these
very cheap. You know they are retail
ing at five cents apiece"
ayes. Well you may send me up
three Dozen Just charge it if you
please"
Certainly. Anything else this
And so Matthews went on. This
it would be dollar-to-mor-
row perhaps fifty cents-and then again
perhaps..only twenty-five cents. Itdidn't
seem much. The young man had just
as much money in his pocket as though
he hadn't bought them. "Only a dol
lar" he would say to himself. That
isn't much out Of twelve dollars
week And it might not be, but the
trouble was, that the next dollar was
called one dollar, and he would forget
TO add it to the former 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 to his
watch
"Where did you get that ?" asked his
wife.
"Ah," returned the husband, with an
impressive shake of the head, :" I made
bargain on this chain Now guess
how much / paid for il"
"I am sure could not guess"
ooh, but try-guess something"
"Well, perhaps ten dollars"
"Ten dollars?" echoed Charlie, with
disappointed look. why, what are
you thinking of? Jack Cummins
bought this chain two months ago, and
paid twenty dollars for it. Why, just
heft it and see how heavy it is. Eighteen
carats fine. Jack was hard up for
money, and let me have it for thirteen
dollars"
1t is cheap, to be sure" returned
Hannah, but yet with not such pleas
urable surprise, as her husband had ex-
pected. "8ut," she added, "you did
not need it, and l fear you will feel the
loss of the money"
"Pooh have money enough. You
know have spent but very little lately.
I have been pretty saving"
But you forget our things, Charles.
The money which you have on hand
is not yours"
"Not mine?" he exclaimed.
mo, it belongs to the storekeeper,
and to the butcher, and to our land
lord You know they must be paid"
Don't you fret about them. / know
it doesn't cost anywhere near twelve
dollars to live, for l have made an esti-
mate. There is Wilkins, who works be-
side me at the shop, he has four chill
dren, and only gets the same wages /
do, and yet he lays up two or three dol
lars a week"
eyes," said Hannah, "I know he
does; l was in to see his wife the other
day, and she was telling me how they
get along. Mr.. Wilkins takes his bas-
ket twice week and gets his meat and
vegetables, and trades for cash, and so
gets everything to the best advantage.
So he does at the store. He lays in a
good quantity of those 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, frkin of it-and it
is much sweeter than that for which
you paid forty-eight cents yesterday.
"Forty-eight cents !" repeated the
young man is surprise.
Yes. I asked Mr.. Waldron's man
when he brought it up, and he said it
had risen to forty-eight cents. Mr..
Wilkins got twenty dozen of eggs some
time ago for twenty cents dozen, and
his wife packed them down, and they
keep well. You will have to pay Mr..
Waldron forty-five cents for those he
sent up yesterday"
Charles Matthews was somewhat as
tonished at this view of the case, but it
could not be helped now, and the subject
was dropped. His gold chain had lost
its charm. 1t did not look so we'll, even
in his own eyes, as the old black cord
which he had worn before.
At length the end of the quarter
came around. The first bill was the
rent, which amounted to twenty-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 wonder dis
appeared. Next he paid the bakers
bill, which was thirteen dollars. When
he came home in the evening he had
paid all his bills except the grocery bill.
Mr.. Wald.on sent his bill TODAY"
his wife said after supper.
All, did he? let me see it,"
Hannah brought it and Charles look
ed. He was astonished at its length,
and when he came to look at the bot
tom of the column his face turned
shade pale. 1t footed up just sixty
five dol]ars-an average of FIVE dollars
week
"This is impossible p he exclaimed
as he gazed upon it. But he examined
the different articles, and he could re-
member when he had ordered them.
Those things which cost him only
dollar, looked very innocent when
viewed alone, but in the aggregate they
had q very diffnrent look UHOw