It will help him take care of the rest
of the family."
Our hero at once made this proposal by letter. This is a paragraph
from his father's letter in reply:--
"I am glad, my dear son, to find you so considerate and dutiful, as
your offer indicates. I have indeed had a hard time in supporting my
family, and have not always been able to give them the comforts I
desired. Perhaps it is my own fault in part. I am afraid I have not
the faculty of getting along and making money that many others have.
But I have had an unexpected stroke of good fortune. Last evening a
letter reached your mother, stating that her cousin Nancy had
recently died at St. Albans, Vermont, and that, in accordance with
her will, your mother is to receive a legacy of four thousand
dollars. With your mother's consent, one-fourth of this is to be
devoted to the purchase of the ten acres adjoining my little farm,
and the balance will be so invested as to yield us an annual income
of one hundred and eighty dollars. Many would think this a small
addition to an income, but it will enable us to live much more
comfortably. You remember the ten-acre lot to the east of us,
belonging to the heirs of Reuben Todd. It is excellent land, well
adapted for cultivation, and will fully double the value of my farm.
"You see, therefore, my dear son, that a new era of prosperity has
opened for us.
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