"So I had. Oh, dear! I don't see but what I've got to worry about both of you."
"Pooh, Ma! Don't be foolish. Think of the money we'll have by fall, the three of us. Why, we'll be rich!"
"Not rich, with that last payment on the mortgage looming ahead."
"But it is the last—think of that! We won't ever have another to make."
A radiant smile flitted over Mrs. King's face but a moment later it was eclipsed by a cloud.
"There'll be other things to pay; there always are," fretted she.
"Oh, shucks, Ma! Why borrow trouble? It's always hanging round wanting to be borrowed. Why gratify it?"
"I know. It is a foolish habit, isn't it? Still, it was always my way to be prepared for the worst. I've done it all my life."
"Then why not whiffle round now and just for a change be prepared for the best?"
In spite of herself his mother laughed.