"It seems to me the estate ought to be worth more," said Mrs. Manning. "I did suppose father was quite well off, and had considerable ready money."
"So he did two years ago," answered Warren. "But it has been spent in the effort to keep afloat. If the times should ever get better——"
"You'll pull through," said Hollis encouragingly.
He had not suffered so much from the hard times, and was prospering.
The will had been remade six months before, after a good deal of consideration.
When Mrs. King went home, a few days after, she said privately to Warren: "Do not trouble about my legacy, and if you come to hard places I am sure Matt will help you out if he possibly can."
Warren thanked her in a broken voice.
Mr. King said nearly the same thing as he grasped the young fellow's hand.
They were a very lonely household. Of course, Betty could not think of going away. And now that they knew what a struggle it had been for some time to keep matters going comfortably, they cast about to see what retrenchment could be made. Even if they wanted to, this would be no time to sell. The house seemed much too large for them, yet it was not planned so that any could be rented out.
"If you're set upon that," said Aunt Priscilla, "I'll take the spare rooms, whether I need them or not. And we will just go on together. Strange though that Foster, who was so much needed, should be taken, and I, without a chick or a child, and so much older, be left behind."