frequently than before. Of the exact condition of her affairs, he was much
better acquainted than she supposed. The anxiety which she felt, some
months after her husband's death, when the result of the settlement of his
estate became known, led her to be rather more communicative. After
determining to open a boarding-house, she said to him, on the occasion of
his visiting her one evening--

"As it is necessary for me to do something, Hiram, I have concluded to move
to a better location, and take a few boarders."

"Don't do any such thing, Margaret," her brother made answer. "Taking
boarders! It's the last thing of which a woman should think."

"Why do you say that, Hiram?" asked Mrs. Darlington, evincing no little
surprise at this unexpected reply.

"Because I think that a woman who has a living to make can hardly try a
more doubtful experiment. Not one in ten ever succeeds in doing anything."

"But why, Hiram? Why? I'm sure a great many ladies get a living in that
way."

"What you will never do, Margaret, mark my words for it. It takes a woman
of shrewdness, caution, and knowledge of the world, and one thoroughly
versed in household economy, to get along in this pursuit. Even if you
possessed all these prerequisites to success, you have just the family that
ought not to come in contact with anybody and everybody that find their way
into boarding-houses."

"I must do something, Hiram," said Mrs. Darlington, evincing impatience at