Mrs Townsend looked surprised and serious.
“But, is there any necessity for this?” she asked, turning her eyes upon her husband’s face.
“Perhaps it would be a prudent step for us to take, provided we could be comfortable and happy under the change,” he replied.
“I hardly think we can be,” said Mrs. Townsend, looking troubled.
“Then we will not move,” was promptly answered.
“But what is to hinder us?” urged Eunice. “The house is large enough, and the rooms of a good size. The situation is pleasant, and the appearance of the house very nearly equal to the one we now live in. With all this in its favor, and added thereto, the fact that the change made a saving of two hundred dollars in our expenses, perhaps more, and I hardly think we would be less comfortable or happy. Father has said that this reduction of our expenses would be a prudent step to take. Should we hesitate a moment after this?”
“He should know what is best, certainly,” said Mrs. Townsend, struck with the force of application that Eunice gave to her father’s words. “And if he thinks it prudent, we ought by all means to move. But, before it is done, the necessity for it should be understood by all of us, and then we can all enter into and promote it with a more cheerful spirit.”
“Very true, indeed,” answered Mr. Townsend; “and I will therefore state, that my business does not promise so well as it did a short time ago; that I have met with a serious loss by the failure of a house to which I sold a large amount of goods, and that, therefore, it will be a measure of prudence to do as the girls propose. For their willingness to make sacrifices, and to prompt to further reductions of expense, we certainly ought to feel deeply grateful. To find them as they are, is to find light in a dark place—to meet streams in a desert. With such loving hearts to sustain us, we ought never to despond.”
CHAPTER XVII.
THE USES OF ADVERSITY.
The change proposed was speedily made. As they shrunk closer together in this smaller house, they felt more sensibly the warmth of each other’s hearts. The mother joined with her daughters in their efforts to cut off every expense, and when they proposed doing without a servant, made no objection, but rather approved the measure. So the servant was dismissed, and the whole care and labor of the household devolved upon Mrs. Townsend, Eveline, and Eunice.