"I think I shall accept the call," said he. This was not spoken with much warmth.
"Don't you like the people?" inquired Mrs. Malcolm.
"Yes; as far as I saw them, they were very pleasant, good sort of people. But the salary is entirely too small."
"How much?"
"Four hundred dollars a year, and the parsonage—a little affair, that would rent for about a hundred dollars."
"We can't live on that," said Mrs. Malcolm, in a disappointed tone; "it is out of the question."
"No, certainly not. But I am assured that at least seven or eight hundred will be made up during the year. This has always been done for Mr. Pelton and will be done for me, if I accept the call."
"That might do, if we practised close economy. But why do they not make the salary seven or eight hundred dollars at once? It would be just the same to them, and make the minister feel a great deal more independent."
"True; but we must let people do things in their own way. We can live on seven hundred dollars, and I therefore think it my duty to give up my school, and accept the call."
"No one, certainly, can charge you with sordid views in doing so, for your school yields you now over a thousand dollars, and is increasing."