The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1885-01-02

ooiho hea'Hy lnueDteu TO the flrm OF
Joel Mifflin, Others upon whom he had
depended for goods obtained upon
credit
Day by day as the hard, trying winter
wore away the two friends grew faster.
and so far from lessening his work
Charlie found himself willingly lifting
some Of his employers burdens upon
his own shoulders.
He gave more time to business, and he
was gaining an insight into it, of which
an opportunity had never been given
him.
And Mabel at home, was bravely TAX
ing her share of the diminished loaf with
n smiling face and a cheerful heart As
far MS might be she kept from Charlie a
knowledge of her domestic economies,
but some of them We're apparent.
The woman whose competent aid de-
manded high wages was dismissed. and
a half-grown girl was engaged to mind
the babies while Mabel cooked and
washed and ironed and sewed, meeting
difficulties with courageous heart
She had never been drone in the
worlds hive having been busy little
dressmaker before Charlie Castleton
won her heart and TOOK her to preside
over his pretty home.
But for three years of her married
life she had been much petted and
there were many pleasures to be put
aside, many dollars well weighed before
they were spent.
1t was with heart full of pardonable
triumph that the young couple at the
end of the year of reduced pay found
they were still out of debt and had not
touched the nest egg i'll the bank.
"You see, Charlie, we made the hale
loaf go round" said Mabel, as they went
carefully over the years expense book.
"There are no crumbs he said. with
a rather weary face
Never mind that; it was great deal
better than idleness.
You are right; and there was more
than that, Mabel l have been able to
help NJ. Mifflip more than could have
done in our old relations to each other
His perplexities made him long for some
one to whom he could speak confiden-
TALLY, and when the ice was once broken
he took me fully into his confidence. T
could often suggest a way out of diff
Guilty that had not occurred to him. and
even when 1 was out of actual use to
him it was relief to poul out his
troubles to some one who was in full
sympathy with him."
"But you have worked very hard
Charlie. I never saw you so tired as
you often have been this year. and your
face is more careworn than it has ever
been before"
"Well, it is some comfort to know
that business prospects are growing
brighter. BY closest economy Mr..
Miffiin has managed to meet the obliga-
tions he was afraid would ruin him, and
there is q good lookout for the coming
year."
"Will he give you whole loaf vet,
Charlie?"
"Not yet, think. Never mind. We
will not despond yet"
"Despondi guess not. I am 90.
ing to have some of these crumbs you
were speaking of next year. / have
learned some valuable lessons in saving
which mean to make use Of"
The second year was certainly not al
easy one to Mabel A Wee baby, in ad
dition to three-years-old twins. kept the
mothers hands busy, while there was no
decrease in the household work. Many
articles of clothing and housekeeping
too, that lasted well one year, were past
service m the second, and it was not easy
to replace them.
Often Mabel feared the saving for a
"rainy day" must be broken i'll upon,
but she kept all such fears shut up in
her own heart and always had a bright
word of cheer for tired Charlie when he
came home at night.
She never told him that the late break
fast that she had planned TO let the
babies sleep while he ate his early one
comprised none OF the tempting dishes
of his own meal but was Utterly bread
and milk six mornings out of the seven.
She never let him know that the
reason she suggested his lunch down
town, to save the long walk home, was
really to save the price of that meal
toward the dinner, the dainty little par
Gel he carried never cost the price of q
regular meal for them all.
She did not tell him that she was cut
ting up her old dresses to clothe the
twin girls and sewing busily every
leisure moment to keep all the little
ones tidy.
And yet there came a day in June,
when six months of the second year
were almost gone, when she spent last
dollar OF the weeks money while the
week was but half gone Charlie had
given her, long before, some signed
checks to meet such an emergency, but
1t was her pride to think that not one of
them had been presented at the bank.
She took one from the desk where they
had lain so lcng and spread it before
her. calculating with Fuckers on her
pretty face how small sum she could
stretch over the necessary expenses.
81 hate to begin,' she said, half aloud;
"if once we break in upon that money
it will melt away like snow before the
sun"
There was no alternative but debt,
and Mabel knew that Charlie would
never be willing to owe any man a cent
while he had cent with which to pay
him. So, with great sigh, she dipped
the pen in the ink to fill out the blank
check. Before it touched the paper,
however, she paused, listening. There
was step in the hall that was not that of