" So we had to give up all hopes. Oh, it's
terrible. Just terrible!
But some of the boys lay there in the grass with their hands under
their heads, looking up at the sky, and making little white spots
come in and out on the corners of their jaws, they had their teeth
set so hard, and were chewing so fiercely. You could almost hear
their minds creak, scheming, scheming, scheming. I suppose there
were ways for boys to make money in those times, but they always
fizzled out when you came to try them, to say nothing of the way
they broke into your day. Why, you had scarcely any time to play
in. You 'd go 'round to some neighbor's house with a magazine, and
you'd say: "Good afternoon, Mrs. Slaymaker. Do you want to subscribe
for this?" Just the way you had studied out you would say. And
she'd take it, and go sit down with it, and read it clear through
while you played with the dog, and then when she got all through
with it, and had read all the advertisements, she'd hand it back to
you and say: No, she didn't believe she would. They had so many
books and papers now that she didn't get a chance hardly to read in
any of them, let alone taking any new ornes. Were you getting many
new subscribers? _ Just commenced, eh? Well, she wished you all
the luck in the world. How was your ma? That's good.
Pages:
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172