n?" which was treating his request
rather lightly.

"I propose to board myself," said Benjamin. "I do not eat meat of any
kind, as you know, so that I can do it very easily, and I will agree
to do it, if you will pay me half the money weekly which you pay for
my board."

"Agreed," replied James. "The bargain is made. When will you begin?"

"To-morrow," was Benjamin's laconic reply.

Benjamin had been reading a work on "vegetable diet," by one Tryon,
and it was this which induced him to discard meat as an article of
food. Mr. Tryon, in his work, gave directions for cooking vegetables,
and such dishes as a vegetarian might use, so that the matter of
boarding was made quite simple. Benjamin really thought that this mode
of living was best for health and strength, though his chief object in
proposing to board himself was to obtain money to purchase books. He
had been trying a vegetable diet for some time in the family where he
and his brother had boarded, and had often been both ridiculed and
censured for his oddity. Perhaps he wanted to get away where he could
eat as he pleased, with no one to say, "Why do ye so?" But most of all
he wanted to command more money, that he might gratify his thirst for
knowledge.

James was very willing to accept the proposition, as it would bring a
little more money into his pocket. He was an avaricious and penurious
young man, who thought mainly of making money in his business, and it
was of little consequence to him whether he made it out of his brother
or some one else.

"How much do you make by boarding yourself, Ben?" inquired James, some
weeks after the experiment was commenced.

"I save just half of the money you pay me," answered Benjamin, "so
that it costs me just one quarter as much as you paid for my board."

"You understand economy, I must confess," said his brother. "However,
I have no fault to find if you are satisfied."

"The money I save is not the best part of it," continued Benjamin. "I
save about a half-hour every noon for reading. After I have eaten my
meal, I usually read as long as that before you return from dinner."

"Not a very sumptuous meal I reckon," said James dryly;
"sawdust-pudding, perhaps, with cold-water sauce!"

"Nothing so difficult to procure as that," responded Benjamin. "A
biscuit or a slice of bread, with a tart or a few raisins, and a glass
of water, make a good dinner for me; and then my head is all the
lighter for study."

"I should t