he money which she should receive for the rent of her house, as
should be necessary for the repairs, she should still have rather more
than she would receive from the money to be invested, if it was put
out at interest by lending it to some person who wanted to borrow it.
So she decided to buy the house in preference to adopting any other
plan.

It happened that the house which Mary Erskine thus determined to buy,
was the very one that Mr. Gordon lived in. The owner of the house
wished to sell it, and offered it first to Mr. Gordon; but he said
that he was not able to buy it. He had been doing very well in his
business, but his expenses were so great, he said, that he had not any
ready money at command. He was very sorry, he added, that the owner
wished to sell the house, for whoever should buy it, would want to
come and live in it, he supposed, and he should be obliged to move
away. The owner said that he was sorry, but that he could not help it.

A few days after this, Mr. Gordon came home one evening, and told
Anne Sophia, with a countenance expressive of great surprise and some
little vexation, that her old friend, Mrs. Forester, had bought their
house, and was going to move into it. Anne Sophia was amazed at this
intelligence, and both she and her husband were thrown into a state of
great perplexity and trouble. The next morning Anne Sophia went out
to see Mary Erskine about it. Mary Erskine received her in a very kind
and cordial manner.

"I am very glad to see you," said Mary Erskine. "I was coming to your
house myself in a day or two, about some business, if you had not come
here."

"Yes," said Anne Sophia. "I understand that you have been buying our
house away from over our heads, and are going to turn us out of house
and home."

"Oh, no," said Mary Erskine, smiling, "not at all. In the first place,
I have not really bought the house yet, but am only talking about it;
and in the second place, if I buy it, I shall not want it myself, but
shall wish to have you live in it just as you have done."

"You will not want it yourself!" exclaimed Anne Sophia, astonished.

"No," said Mary Erskine, "I am only going to buy it as an investment."

There were so many things to be astonished at in this statement, that
Anne Sophia hardly knew where to begin with her wonder. First, she was
surprised to learn that Mary Erskine had so much money. When she heard
that she had bought the house, she supposed of course that she