floor with a passel of boys," as Miss Eliza Davis, who furnished the
chair, elegantly expressed it.

When the meeting had been called to order (and John William, who evinced
a desire to hang around and find out what was going on, had been
discharged from further attendance on the Board, or, in other words, had
been ordered to "clear out"), and the minutes of the last meeting had
been read, and the Treasurer had read her written report, and the
Secretary had read his, an air of despondency seemed to settle upon the
assembly.

An empty corn-house seemed, as Tom Selden remarked, a very excellent
place for them to meet.

The financial condition of the company was about as follows:

It owed "One-eyed Lewston" and Aunt Judy one dollar each for one month's
rent of their homesteads as stations, the arrangement having been made
about the time the instruments were ordered.

It owed four dollars and twenty cents to the wood-cutters who worked on
the construction of the line, and two dollars and a half for other
assistance at that time.

("Wish we had done it all ourselves," said Wilson Ogden.)

It owed three dollars, balance on furniture procured at Hetertown. (It
also owed one chair, borrowed.)

It owed, for spikes and some other hardware procured at the store, one
dollar and sixty cents.

In addition to this, it owed John William Webster, who had been employed
as a sort of general agent to run errands and clean up things,
seventy-five cents--balance of salary--and he wanted his money.

To meet these demands, as was before remarked, they had nothing.

Fortunately nothing was owing for Aunt Matilda's support, Harry and Kate
having from the first determined never to run in debt on her account.

But, unfortunately, poor Aunt Matilda's affairs were never in so bad a
condition. The great interest which Kate and Harry had taken in the
telegraph line had prevented them from paying much attention to their
ordinary methods of making money, and now that the company's
appropriation was spent, there seemed to be no immediate method of
getting any money for the old woman's present needs.

This matter was not strictly the business of the Board, but they
nevertheless considered it.

CHAPTER XXI.

A LAST RESORT.

The Board was fully agreed that something must be done to relieve Aunt
Matilda's present necessities, but what to do did not seem very clear.

Wilson Ogden proposed issuing some kind of scrip or bonds, rede