FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37  
38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   >>   >|  
that a year?" "Five hundred and twenty dollars." "Five hundred and twenty dollars a year--that'd be more than a thousand dollars in two years!" "Yes," Skinner affirmed. "And in four years? Think of it--over two thousand dollars?" "Better not count your chickens, Honey,--I'm superstitious, you know." Skinner began to see his ten-dollar raise growing to gigantic proportions. He had visions of himself at the end of four years hustling to "make good" "over two thousand dollars." For the first time he questioned the wisdom of promoting himself. But he could n't back out now. He almost damned Honey's thrift. He would be piling up a debt which threatened to become an avalanche and swamp him, and for which he would get no equivalent but temporarily increased adulation. How could he nip this awful thing in the bud? He did n't see any way out of it unless it were to throw up his job and cut short this accumulating horror. But at least he had a year of grace--two years, four years, for that matter--before he would have to render an accounting, and who could tell what four years might bring forth? Surely, in that time he'd be able to get out of it somehow. However, he had cast the die, and no matter what came of it he would n't back out. If he did, Honey would never believe in him again. His little kingdom would crumble. So he grinned. "I think I'll have a demi-tasse, just to celebrate." So Honey brought in the demi-tasse. Then Honey took her seat again, and resting her elbows on the table, placed her chin in the cup of her hands and looked at Skinner so long that he flushed. Had her intuition searched out his guilt, he wondered. "And now, I've got a surprise for you, Dearie," she said, after a little. After what Skinner had gone through, nothing could surprise him, he thought. "Shoot!" said he. "You thought I got you to get that raise just to build up our bank account--did n't you?" "Sure thing!" said Skinner apprehensively, "Why?" "You old goosie! I only got you to think that so you'd go _after_ it! That is n't what I wanted it for--at all!" Skinner's mouth suddenly went dry. "We've been cheap people long enough, Dearie," Honey began. "We've never dressed like other people, we've never traveled like other people. If we went on a trip, it was always at excursion rates. We've always put up at cheap hotels, we've always bargained for the lowest rate, and we've always eaten in c
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37  
38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

Skinner

 

dollars

 

people

 

thousand

 

surprise

 
matter
 

thought

 

hundred

 

Dearie

 

twenty


celebrate
 

brought

 

wondered

 

elbows

 

resting

 

looked

 

intuition

 
flushed
 

searched

 

dressed


traveled

 

suddenly

 

excursion

 

lowest

 

bargained

 

hotels

 
wanted
 
account
 

goosie

 
apprehensively

questioned

 

wisdom

 

promoting

 
hustling
 

damned

 

avalanche

 

equivalent

 

threatened

 
thrift
 

piling


visions

 

Better

 

affirmed

 

chickens

 

growing

 

gigantic

 
proportions
 
dollar
 

superstitious

 

temporarily