“Do you really think we can get a new start here?” asked Mrs. Pratt, looking up hopefully.
“I don’t only believe it, I know it, Mrs. Pratt,” said Eleanor, enthusiastically. “And what’s more, you’re going to be happier and more prosperous than you ever were before the fire. Not just at first, perhaps, but you’re going to see the way clear ahead, and it won’t be long before you’ll be doing so well that you’ll be able to let my friend Tom here go to college.”
Mrs. Pratt’s face fell. It seemed to her that Eleanor was promising too much.
“I don’t see how that could be,” she said. “Why, his paw and I used to talk that over. We wanted him to have a fine education, but we didn’t see how we could manage it, even when his paw was alive.”
“Well, you listen to me, and see if you don’t think there’s a good chance of it, anyhow,” said Eleanor. “In the first place, none of the people in Cranford knew that you’d had all this trouble. It was just as I thought. Their own danger had been so great that they simply hadn’t had time to think of anything else. They were shocked and sorry when I told them.”
“There’s a lot of good, kind people there,” said Mrs. Pratt, brightening again. “I’m sure I didn’t think anything of their not having come out here to see how we were getting along.”
“Some of them would have been out in a day or two, even if I hadn’t told them, Mrs. Pratt. As it is—but I think that part of my story had better wait. Tell me, you’ve been selling all your milk and cream to the big creamery that supplies the milkmen in the city, haven’t you?”
“Yes, and I guess that we can keep their trade, if we can get on our feet pretty soon so that they can get it regular again.”
“I’ve no doubt you could,” said Eleanor, dryly. “They make so much money buying from you at cheap prices and selling at high prices that they wouldn’t let the chance to keep on slip by in a hurry, I can tell you. But I’ve got a better idea than that.”
Mrs. Pratt looked puzzled, but Tom Pratt, who seemed to be in Eleanor’s secret, only smiled and returned Eleanor’s wise look.