rooms, reaching from a crowded street to a little back-yard full of
noisy children by day, and noisier cats by night. I had often
thought of moving, but had failed to find a better shelter that was
within my very limited means. The neighborhood was respectable, so
far as a densely populated region can be. It was not very distant
from my place of business, and my work often kept me so late at the
office that we could not live in the suburb. The rent was moderate
for New York, and left me some money, after food and clothing were
provided, for occasional little outings and pleasures, which I
believe to be needed by both body and mind. While the children were
little--so long as they would "stay put" in the cradle or on the
floor--we did not have much trouble. Fortunately I had good health,
and, as my wife said, was "handy with children." Therefore I could
help her in the care of them at night, and she had kept much of her
youthful bloom. Heaven had blessed us. We had met with no serious
misfortunes, nor had any of our number been often prostrated by
prolonged and dangerous illness. But during the last year my wife
had been growing thin, and occasionally her voice had a sharpness
which was new. Every month Bobsey became more hard to manage. Our
living-room was to him like a cage to a wild bird, and slip away he
would, to his mother's alarm; for he was almost certain to get into
mischief or trouble. The effort to perform her household tasks and
watch over him was more wearing than it had been to rock him through
long hours at night when he was a teething baby. These details seem
very homely no doubt, yet such as these largely make up our lives.
Comfort or discomfort, happiness or unhappiness, springs from them.
There is no crop in the country so important as that of boys and
girls. How could I manage my little home-garden in a flat?

I looked thoughtfully from one to another, as with children's