dollars capital and twenty-eight dollars a week salary do not provide
those things.

What we _could_ have would be a comfortable flat, and some nice
furniture. We'd pay cash for all we could, and buy the remainder of the
necessary things on time. We had found a wonderful, brand-new flat which
we could rent for twenty-five dollars a month. It had hardwood floors,
steam heat, two big bedrooms, a fine living room with a gas grate, a
hot-water heater for the bath, and everything modern and convenient.
To-day the landlord would ask ninety dollars a month for that place and
tell you he was losing money at that.

With the rent paid, we should have eighty-seven dollars a month left to
live on. The grocery bill, at that time, would not run more than twenty
dollars a month; telephone, gas, and electric light would not exceed ten
dollars a month; the milkman and the paper boy would take but little,
and in winter time a ton of coal per month would be sufficient. Oh, we
should have plenty of money, and could easily afford to pledge twenty
dollars a month to pay for necessary furniture.

It will be noticed that into our dreaming came no physician, no
dentist, no expenses bobbing up from unexpected sources. Not a single
bill collector called at the front door of our dream castle to ask for
money which we did not have.

If older and wiser heads suggested the possibility of danger, we
produced our plans on paper, and asked them from whence could trouble
come? To-day we understand the depth of the kindly smile which our
protests always evoked. They were letting the dreamers dream.