"I'm going into the mouse business."
"Into what?"
"The mouse business," replied Leo, gravely.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Maggie, puzzled as much by his gravity as by the unintelligible phrase he had used.
Leo explained what he meant, and argued the case with much skill and enthusiasm.
Maggie would have laughed if she had not been solemnly impressed by the condition of her father, and by the burden of responsibility that rested upon her as his nurse. She went into the basement, and looked at the house which Leo had just finished. It was certainly very pretty, and the mice in it were very cunning.
"You don't think any one will give you five dollars for that house—do you?" said she, as she joined him in the back room again.
"I mean to ask six for it, and if folks won't give it, they are mean. That is all I've got to say about it," replied Leo.
"But they won't."
"Why, the mice alone are worth a dollar and a half; and there is two days' work in the house, besides the stock and the glass. I certainly expect to get six dollars for the concern, though I shall not complain if I don't get but five. I can make from three to a dozen of them in a week, and if I don't make at least fifteen dollars a week out of the mouse business, I shall be disappointed—that's all."