"Yes; I am managing it first-rate, and saving a little as I go along. You don't know what a screw I have become."
"Who are you saving it for? Your mother?"
Rufus smiled a little bitterly.
"My mother is very comfortable. She wants nothing that I can give her."
"Are you saving it for God?"
Rufus looked startled; then he laughed.
"You're the funniest little mortal I have ever come across! For whom should I save money if not for myself? Haven't I the best right to it? Isn't it mine for good and all? I am my own master, and I intend to be. My life is what I shall choose to make it. I am not going to rust in this country town for long; it is only the first step in the ladder. You wait till I am a rich man, Greta, and then you will know the worth of my savings!"
"I thought people who saved money for themselves were called misers," said Greta, with a puzzled look; "and Becca says we live for other people, not ourselves!"
"Hang Rebecca!"
Rufus's tone was irritable; then seeing he had frightened the child, he went on—