"I returned to my friends an' gently broke the news.

"Sam blubbered 'Education done it,' says he, as he mournfully shook
his head.

"'Yes,' I says. 'Education is responsible for a damned lot of
ignorance.'

"'An' some foolishness,' says Sam, as he scraped the mud out of his
hair. 'Think of our goin' like that. We ought to have known
better.' "'We knew better,' I says, 'but we had to keep up with
Lizzie.'

"Sam turned toward Lizzie an' moaned in a broken voice, 'I wish it
had killed me.'

"'Why so?' I asked.

"'It costs so much to live,' Sam sobbed, in a half-hysterical way.
'I've got an expensive family on my hands.'

"'You needn't be afraid o' havin' Lizzie on your hands,' says Dan,
who held the girl in his arms.

"'What do you mean?^ Sam inquired.

"'She's on my hands an' she's goin' to stay there,' says the young
man. 'I'm in love with Lizzie myself. I've always been in love
with Lizzie.'