"We must not spend it then."
"Captain Littleton told me what he thought we had better do. This house in which we live can be bought for fifteen hundred dollars, though the owner has always asked eighteen hundred, and——"
"You don't really think of such a thing as buying the house?" interrupted Paul, filled with amazement at the magnitude of the idea.
"That is what Captain Littleton advises me to do."
"But you haven't money enough."
"I can give a mortgage for five hundred dollars. The rent of the house is one hundred and forty dollars, and Mr. Freeman says he cannot afford to let it for any less. Now, if we buy it, we can pay a thousand dollars down, and we shall owe five hundred, on which we shall have to pay the interest, amounting to thirty dollars. By this plan, we should have to pay out only about fifty dollars a year for interest and taxes, or about a dollar a week. In this way we can get along on five dollars a week."
"Buy the house then, by all means, mother. Five dollars a week! Well, I think I shall be able to support the family, after all."
"You, Paul?" exclaimed Mrs. Duncan, with a smile.
"I am sure I can."