“This will just suit me,” said the old man, looking about him with a pleased expression. “I like this room much better than the one my niece gave me.”
“Our house won’t compare with hers, Mr. Wilkins,” said the widow.
“It ain’t so fine, but she put me in a little seven-by-nine chamber, and I was always used to plenty of room.”
“I am afraid our living will be too plain for you,” suggested Mrs. Gilbert, apprehensively.
“Do I look as if I was used to high living?” asked Uncle Obed. “No; whatever’s good enough for you and Harry is good enough for me. And now it’s best to agree about terms, so that we may know just how we stand.”
This was rather embarrassing to the widow. Uncle Obed certainly did not look as if he could pay much, yet it would not do to charge too little. She would not be able to provide her table.
“Would four dollars suit you?” she asked, in a hesitating way.
“No, it wouldn’t,” said the old man.
“I don’t see how I can afford to ask less,” faltered Mrs. Gilbert.
“That isn’t the point,” he said. “You don’t ask enough. I will pay you six dollars a week—the first week in advance.”