"Very well; I am not going to stay here and starve."

"We haven't starved yet, Thomas," spoke up Lizzy.

"No, thanks to my prudence in saving every dollar I could spare
while a bachelor! But we're in a fair way for it now. Every week we
are going behindhand, and if we stay here much longer we shall
neither have the means of living nor getting away. I've finished my
job, and cannot get another stroke to do."

"Something will turn up, Thomas; don't be impatient."

"Impatient!" ejaculated Ward.

"Yes, impatient, Thomas," coolly said his wife. "You are in a very
strange way. Only wait a little while, and all will come right."

"Lizzy," said Thomas Ward, suddenly growing calm, and speaking
slowly and with marked emphasis--"I've decided upon going to
America. If you will go with me, as a loving and obedient wife
should, I shall be glad of your company; but if you prefer to remain
here, I shall lay no commands upon you. Will you or will you not go?
Say at a word."

Lizzy had a spice of independence about her, as well as a good share
of pride. The word "obedience," as applied to a wife, had never
accorded much with her taste, and the use of it made on the present
occasion by her husband was particularly offensive to her. So she
replied, without pausing to reflect--"I have already told you that I