ebts, let him ask her counsel, aid and
cooeperation also. We were determined to be honest; and our good wives
helped us in this effort with all their might.

"How they managed it you can't expect a man to explain--it is a problem
too deep for our limited intelligence--but certain it is, that while we
always sat down to a plentiful table and maintained a respectable
appearance, what had supported one family now answered for two. I don't
think our wives were reduced to the straits of the Irish family, whose
little boy reported to his schoolmates: 'There's a great twisting and
turning going on at our house. I'm having a new shirt made out of
daddy's old one, and daddy's having a new shirt made out of the old
sheet, and mammy's making a new sheet out of the old table-cloth.' But
'twistings and turnings' of a marvellous kind there must have been,
which the male understanding could not fathom; for while the house was
always in order, and the two ladies looked as neat as if they had just
stepped out of a bandbox, no bills came in, and a little money went a
great way.

"One word more about this very practical thing of expense in living. We
could have lived on as we had done, and no blame from any one, for we
were in no respect extravagant; but we could not reconcile it to our
consciences to spend a penny without necessity when we owed money. All
four thought alike about that; we were thankful for health, and that we
could provide the comforts of life for our young families. As you know,
our dear children were then living. And I may here add, that both John
and I lived to see the solid benefits accruing from the ten years of
strict economy and active work in which all shared. Our boys and girls
learned betimes to help themselves and one another, and were invaluable
aids to their mothers. The lessons of self-denial were not lost upon
them. They attended the public schools and received a solid education
there; but the languages were picked up at home, and thoroughly, too. It
is astonishing how much can be learned by devoting a short time every
day to any study when the heart is in it; and I found that the boys were
prepared for college, when our ten years were up, and we were able to
spend more freely.

"But meanwhile, what about Willing, and the very mixed accounts of
Stewart & Gamble? Alas, alas! how happy was our lot compared with his!
We had cheerful content, hope for the future, peace in our consciences.
We were respected