appetite.

As soon as her husband had retired from the house, which he did very
soon after he had left the table, Mrs. Tompkins's manner changed.

"Humph!" said she, tossing her head, "he needn't begin the sulky
game with me. Two can play at that, as he ought to know very well.
I've set my heart on having a handsomer establishment than the
purse-proud Mrs. Gileston, and, what is more, I will be gratified.
Mr. Tompkins is worth two dollars to her husband's one, and yet she
sweeps about the street with the air of a duchess, and never so much
as looks me in the face, though I have been twice introduced to her.
But, I'll be even with my lady! I've set my heart on this, and will
move heaven and earth to accomplish it."

This half-spoken soliloquy will afford the reader some clue to the
character of Mrs. Tompkins. Her husband, to whom she had been
married about ten years, had gradually risen from the position of a
clerk to that of a merchant, in a small way, when the death of a
distant relative put him in possession of about, thirty thousand
dollars. Up to that time, his wife, who was a poor girl when he
married her, had been content to live in a style suited to their
means. But the moment a fortune so large in her eyes, fell to their
share, her ideas expanded, and she suddenly became aware of the fact
that she was a woman of no mean importance.

To Mr. Tompkins, this money came just in time to save him from
failure. He had started, as too many do, without capital, and had
unwisely attempted to do more business than means so limited would
bear. He, consequently, knew the value of money far better than his