good a housekeeper,
you might do very well by taking a few boarders; and I believe you could
stand that kind of labor better than sewing.' We had a little talk about
it, and he proposed trying to find me a house suited to the purpose; to
which I very readily consented; for, though I was wholly inexperienced
in any business, I thought it better to venture the experiment than to
keep on as I was doing."

"How did you expect to get furniture? Pardon me; but you see I want to
learn all about the details of so strange a life."

"I don't think I expected anything, or thought of all the difficulties
at once."

"Which was fortunate, because they would have discouraged you."

"It is hard to say what has or has not been for the best. But for that
boarding-house scheme, I do not believe I should have married the man I
did.

"As I was saying, Mr. Seabrook never annoyed me with attentions. He came
and talked to me in a friendly manner, and with a superior air that
disarmed apprehension on that score. Mrs. ----, my neighbor in the next
room, once hinted to me that his visits were indicative of his
intentions, and thereby caused me a sleepless night. But as _he_ never
referred to the subject, and as I was now full of my new business
project, the alarm subsided. A house was finally secured, or a part of a
house, consisting of a kitchen, dining-room and bed-room, on the first
floor; and the same number of rooms above. I had a comfortable supply of
bedding and table linen; the trouble was about cabinet furniture. But as
most of my boarders were bachelors, who quartered themselves where they
could, I got along very well."

"You made a success of it, then?"

"I made a success. I threw all my energies into it, and had all the
boarders I could cook for."

"Mr. Seabrook boarded with you?--I conjecture that."

"Yes; and he took a room at my house. At first I liked it well enough; I
had so much confidence in him. But in a short time I thought I could
perceive that my other boarders were disposed to think that we looked
toward a nearer relationship in the future. Perhaps they were justified
in thinking so, as they could only judge from appearances; and I had
asked Mr. Seabrook to take the foot of the table, and carve, because I
had so much else to do that it was impossible for me to do that also.
Gradually he assumed more the air of proprietor than of boarder; but as
he was so much older and wiser, and had been of so much service to