but it is good to know that there are others, too,” said the mother, “good that all the world are not crooks.”
“Well, at least we’ll have enough left over from the settlement to move into a decent apartment and pay the rent a couple of months ahead till I can get a good-paying job,” said Thurlow with a sigh of relief. “There were almost two hundred dollars left over when everything was paid.”
“That’s grand,” said the mother. “But look here, son, just put that idea of an apartment out of your head. We can be thankful for this extra money, of course, but it won’t do much more than move us, and we’ve got to be careful with every cent. You needn’t get any notions about comfortable apartments. We’re not going to try to live in luxury. Not even what you would call comfort or perhaps even decency. We are going to get along with bare necessities, at least for a while, till we can see ahead. And this extra money is going to be a nest egg for possibilities ahead until we are sure of getting our money back from that bankif we ever do. Now, I may as well tell you that I’ve made my plans, and I guess you’ll have to let me manage for a little while yet anyway. It may be a bit hard for you now, but I think it will work out. At least we’re going to try it. Now, come and let us get something to eat, and then I’ll tell you about it.”
“But, Mother,” said both the young people in dismay. “You mustn’t get that way. We are going to take care of you, you know.”
“Yes, well, that’s all right, and you’re a pair of dears, but we are going cautiously until the ground gets firmer under our feet again. Now, Rilla, you put the milk and butter and applesauce on the table, and, Thurl, slice the cold meat and cut the bread. I’ll fry the potatoes and make the coffee, and we’ll be ready in no time.”
Thurlow gave his mother a keen worried look but did her bidding, and in a short time, they sat down to the meal; but they ate silently, the young people keeping a wary eye on their mother. They recognized a set of firmness around her lips that portended a state of mind hard to move. They had had experience before with that look on her face and felt more trouble ahead.
Rilla fairly flew at the dishes when they were done, and very soon everything was in place.
“Now!” said Thurlow, leading his mother to her comfortable chair in the living room. “Let’s hear the worst!”
The mother went to her desk and got a long envelope, returning to her chair.
“I’ve been going over the papers in the desk, getting ready to move,” she said as she sat down, “and I found some papers I had forgotten all about.”
She opened the envelope and took out a long, official-looking document.
“It’s a deed,” she explained, “a deed to a small property down on the south side of the city. Your father took it over from a man who owed him some money. The man’s wife died, and he wanted to move away quickly, so your father took the property. It isn’t worth very much, but the taxes are paid, and it’s ours. I know you will not think it is a pleasant place to live, but we can’t help that now. It’s big enough to house us, and it won’t cost us anything. There is a barn on the place big enough to store the goods we want to keep. I’m selling some of them, of course. That will bring in a few more dollars to live on till times improve. I called up your Mrs. Steele, and she said she thought the ladies would like to purchase a couple of bedroom sets from the guest rooms. We won’t need so many again, and they are not especially interesting to us to keep. We never had any sentiment connected with them. The bookcases, too, won’t fit anywhere else.”
The son and daughter looked at one another and gasped.
“But, Mother,” demurred Thurlow, “you don’t realize at all what kind of a neighborhood the South Side is. You wouldn’t stand it a day, and it’s no place for a girl like Rilla to be.”
“I thought you’d say that,” said the mother, “so I went down there yesterday while you were off. I sent Rilla to return some books we had borrowed from two or three places, and I took the trolley down there. It isn’t fashionable, if that’s what you mean. I’ll admit there are several factories nearby, and the railroad runs behind the house, but the lot is quite deep, and it’s only a siding from the main track, running down to a factory two blocks away. Anyway, I think we should move there for the present.”
“But, Mother, why be so economical when we have that extra money?”
“Because we’ve got to save every cent. By the time we are moved, there will be very little left to live on. You haven’t either of you an idea how much it costs just to eat. Of course, if we’re able to get jobs, all three of us, we can in time catch up and have things a little easier, but at first we’ve got to be very careful!”
“Mother! Not you!” Rilla was aghast, and Thurlow rose up sternly.
“Yes, of course I’m going to get a job,” said Mrs. Reed. “I’m not too old. I can get plain sewing if I can’t get anything else, but I’m getting a job! That’s settled. And we’ll all work with a will this winterunless”and a faint gleam of a smile shadowed out“unless the bank opens again before fall.”
“The bank won’t open again!” said Thurlow with a sad conviction in his voice. “Mr. Stanwood told me it is in a bad way, and we’re just going to have to calculate without that bank. But we’ll never consent to have you go to work; no, nor to live down there among the factories.”
“It’s where we’ll have to live, son,” insisted the mother. “There’s a big yard and a neat little house. I’m sure we can make it quite pleasant. Of course the houses in that locality are very plain and need fixing up. But we can move later if we have to.”
They argued pretty late that night, the mother still determined to move to Meachin Street.
“We can sell it later, perhaps, after we have made it pleasant and attractive.” She tried to smile brightly.
“You couldn’t sell anything to live in down there for even a song,” said the son. “I know that region. And the neighbors would be simply impossible! I’m not going to let my mother go into such a neighborhood!”
“They are probably only poor creatures who have lost their money just like ourselves,” said the mother calmly.
And then there was the whole argument to go over again.
At last, near midnight, they compromised. They would agree to move down there for a while if their mother would give up the idea of getting a job.
But the next morning it was all to do over again.
“Thurlow, you don’t understand,” said his mother firmly, with the look in her eye of having lain awake all night thinking about it. “I am determined that you shall finish your college studies! I can’t have your father’s well-laid plans frustrated. I can see how we can do it quite well. And a little later Rilla can go. At least she can attend the university in the city, and that won’t cost so much. But you must finish out your course in your college where you have begun.”
Thurlow’s eyes were misty as he looked at his sweet, stubborn mother, but he set his pleasant lips in a firm line of determination. He was just opening his mouth to say no in no uncertain terms when there came a loud throbbing of a car up the drive, a shout like an army with banners, then a thundering at the front door, mingled with cheerful young voices.
“Hi, Thurl!
