ng to practice it, by
withholding from others what was justly their due, as in the case of
the strawberry-woman, yet she was a very extravagant person, and
spared no money in gratifying her own pride. Mrs. Gilman, her
visitor, was, on the contrary, really economical, because she was
moderate in all her desires, and was usually as well satisfied with
an article of dress or furniture that cost ten or twenty dollars, as
Mrs. Mier was with one that cost forty or fifty dollars. In little
things, the former was not so particular as to infringe the rights
of others, while in larger matters, she was careful not to run into
extravagance in order to gratify her own or children's pride and
vanity, while the latter pursued a course directly opposite.

Mrs. Gilman was not as much dissatisfied, on reflection, about the
price she had paid for her strawberries, as she had felt at first.

"I would rather pay these poor creatures two cents a box too much
than too little," she said to herself--"dear knows, they earn their
money hard enough, and get but a scanty portion after all."

Although the tray of the poor strawberry-woman, when she passed from
the presence of Mrs. Mier, was lighter by five boxes, her heart was
heavier, and that made her steps more weary than before. The next
place at which she stopped, she found the same disposition to beat
her down in her price.

"I'll give you nine cents, and take four boxes," said the lady.

"Indeed, madam, that is too little," replied the woman; "ten cents
is the lowest at which I can sell them and make even a reasonable
profit."

"Well, say thirty-seven and a half for four boxes, and I will take
them. It is only two cents and a half less than you ask for them."

"Give me a fip, ma!--there comes the candy-man!" exclaimed a little
fellow, pressing up to the side of the lady. "Quick, ma! Here,
candy-man!" calling after an old man with a tin cylinder under his
arm, that looked something like an ice cream freezer. The lady drew
out her purse, and searched among its contents for the small coin
her child wanted.

"I havn't any thing less than a levy," she at length said.

"Oh, well, he can change it. Candy-man, you can change a levy?"

By this time the "candy-man" stood smiling beside the
strawberry-woman. As he was counting out the fip's worth of candy,
the child spoke up in an earnest voice, and said:

"Get a levy's worth, mother, do, wont you? Cousin Lu's coming to see
us to-morrow."