ing
about those days except what I've been told since by my mother.

"Father was a good business man and he had built up a fairly large
trade. We had a home in a suburb near Boston and all the money we
needed. The business had been expanding, and father had put into it not
only all his own ready money, but a lot that he had borrowed from his
friends. Then hard times came. Of course he had to retrench in every way
he could. He took in his sails and worked hard to weather the storm.
He'd have succeeded, too, but just as things were looking brighter, a
big bank failure knocked him out completely."

There was a murmur of sympathy from the boys.

"As if that wasn't enough, he came down with brain fever," went on Ross.
"I suppose it was brought on by worry and overwork. Anyway, when he got
on his feet again, everything had gone to smash and he didn't have a
cent left. Worse than that, he was in debt for a good many thousand
dollars.

"Father was honest though," and there was a touch of pride in the boy's
voice. "Everybody that knew him at all knew that. If his health had been
good, he could have started in all over again, and even some of the men
to whom he owed money would have lent him more to get him on his feet.
But the doctor told him it would be simply suicide for him to go on
under the circumstances, and that he'd have to go away somewhere and
take a long rest.

"All of his property had gone to his creditors, but mother owned a small
place up in Canada on the Gulf of St. Lawrence. She had inherited it
from her father, and as it was free and clear, the whole family packed
up and went out there.

"It was a complete change from the life we had lived before and my
father's health began to mend right away. There was a good deal of
valuable lumber on the place and as there was a good demand for this, he
sold it at a profit. Then, too, he traded a good deal with the trappers
who came out of the forests every spring with their skins and furs.

"Money began to pile up and father was feeling fine. It wasn't so much
because _he_ was getting the money, though of course that was a
great thing, but he was fairly crazy to pay off every cent of the money
he owed when he went into bankruptcy. He was a very proud man and
couldn't bear to be in any one's debt. I've often heard him say to
mother that the day he stood clear with the world again would be the
happiest day of his life.

"He had kept a careful record of every cent he