The doctor's bill and word that Fisher had gone into bankruptcy reached him by the same mail. Dazed and trembling, he got out his bank-book and tried to strike a balance; the figures danced crazily before him. But too well he knew that slender sum! He could see barely a month ahead.
He walked home that evening, to get a new grip on his courage. He found Shirley almost breathless with excitement.
She waved a letter before him. "You can have two guesses to what's in it."
But David was unequal even to one guess just then.
"It's from Aunt Clara. She wants me to take the baby out there for two or three weeks. You don't mind, do you, David?"
"Do you want to go so much?"
"I'm just crazy to have them see Davy Junior. And I haven't seen Maizie and auntie and the rest of them for so long. And I think the change will do me good. I get tired so easily, you know."
This last was a convincing argument and quite true. "I know. But I'm afraid, dear, we can't afford it."
"Is business so bad?"
"It's pretty slow—-and getting no better."