she insisted on his slipping into, on the evenings they remained
at home.

The hard practical wisdom of Mercedes Higgins proved of immense
help, for Saxon strove with a fervor almost religious to have
everything of the best and at the same time to be saving. Here
she faced the financial and economic problem of keeping house in
a society where the cost of living rose faster than the wages of
industry. And here the old woman taught her the science of
marketing so thoroughly that she made a dollar of Billy's go half
as far again as the wives of the neighborhood made the dollars of
their men go.

Invariably, on Saturday night, Billy poured his total wages into
her lap. He never asked for an accounting of what she did with
it, though he continually reiterated that he had never fed so
well in his life. And always, the wages still untouched in her
lap, she had him take out what he estimated he would need for
spending money for the week to come. Not only did she bid him
take plenty but she insisted on his taking any amount extra that
he might desire at any time through the week. And, further, she
insisted he should not tell her what it was for.

"You've always had money in your pocket," she reminded him, "and
there's no reason marriage should change that. If it did, I'd
wish I'd never married you. Oh, I know about men when they get
together. First one treats and then another, and it takes money.
Now if you can't treat just as freely as the rest of them, why I
know you so well that I know you'd stay away from them. And that
wouldn't be right . . . to you, I mean. I want you to be together