"How do you do, Marion?" said he, when the girl entered. He had known her from childhood.
"How do you do, Mr. Blackwood?" she returned.
"Pretty fairly, for an old man, Marion. That is, so far as my health goes. Business is very poor, though."
"The war has taken the people's money."
"Yes, yes! It is awful! Sometimes I think it will never end."
"Do you think we will win, Mr. Blackwood?"
At this the old man shook his head slowly.
"I used to hope so, Marion. But now—the most of our best soldiers have been shot down. The North can get new recruits, but we don't seem to have many more men to go to the front."
"Have you any more calico like that which I got a few weeks ago?"
"No, I can't get a single piece, no matter how hard I try."