in money, and a loss of $600, set off against an
expense of $2380. Thus was Mrs. Turner worse off by $1494 at the end
of the year, than she was when she commenced keeping boarders. But
she made no estimates, and had not the most remote idea of how the
matter stood. Whenever she wanted money, she drew upon the amount
placed to her credit in bank by the administrator on her husband's
estate, vainly imagining that it would all come back through the
boarders. All that she supposed to be lost of the first year's
business were the $600, out of which she had been cheated. Resolving
to be more circumspect in future, another year was entered upon. But
she could not help seeing that Mary was suffering from hard labor
and close confinement, and it pained her exceedingly. One day she
said to her, a few weeks after they had entered upon the second
year--

"I am afraid, Mary, this is too hard for you. You begin to look pale
and thin. You must spare yourself more."

"I believe I do need a little rest, mother," said Mary; "but if I
don't look after things, nobody will, and then we should soon have
our boarders dissatisfied."

"That is too true, Mary."

"But I wouldn't mind it so much, mother, if I thought we were
getting ahead. But I am afraid we are not."

"What makes you think so, child?"

"You know we have lost six hundred dollars already, and that is a
great deal of money."

"True, Mary; but we must be more careful in future. We will soon
make that up, I am sure."

"I hope so," Mary responded, with a sigh. She did not herself feel
so sanguine of making it up. Still, she had not entered into any
calculation of income and expense, leaving that to her mother, and
supposing that all was right as a matter of course.

As they continued to set an excellent table, they kept up pretty
regularly their complement of boarders. The end of the second year
would have shown this result, if a calculation had been made: cash
income, $1306--loss by boarders, $150--whole expenses, $2000.
Consequently, they were worse off at the end of the year by $694; or
in the two years, $2188, by keeping boarders.

And now poor Mrs. Turner was startled on receiving her bank book
from the bank, settled up, to find that her four thousand dollars
had dwindled down to $1812. She could not at first believe her
senses. But there were all her checks regularly entered; and, to
dash even the hope that there was a mistake, there were the
cancelled checks, als