up the earth.

When autumn came, I went soberly to market, in the neighboring city, and
bought my potatoes and turnips like any other man; for, between all the
various systems of gardening pursued, I was obliged to confess that my
first horticultural effort was a decided failure. But though all my
rural visions had proved illusive, there were some very substantial
realities. My bill at the seed store, for seeds, roots, and tools, for
example, had run up to an amount that was perfectly unaccountable; then
there were various smaller items, such as horse shoeing, carriage
mending--for he who lives in the country and does business in the city
must keep his vehicle and appurtenances. I had always prided myself on
being an exact man, and settling every account, great and small, with
the going out of the old year; but this season I found myself sorely put
to it. In fact, had not I received a timely lift from my good old uncle,
I should have made a complete break down. The old gentleman's
troublesome habit of ciphering and calculating, it seems, had led him
beforehand to foresee that I was not exactly in the money-making line,
nor likely to possess much surplus revenue to meet the note which I had
given for my place; and, therefore, he quietly paid it himself, as I
discovered, when, after much anxiety and some sleepless nights, I went
to the holder to ask for an extension of credit.

"He was right, after all," said I to my wife; "'to live cheap in the
country, a body must know how.'"

"WOMAN, BEHOLD THY SON!"

The golden rays of a summer afternoon were streaming through the windows
of a quiet apartment, where every thing was the picture of orderly
repose. Gently and noiselessly they glide, gilding the glossy old
chairs, polished by years of care; fluttering with flickering gleam on
the bookcases, by the fire, and the antique China vases on the mantel,
and even coqueting with sparkles of fanciful gayety over the face of the
perpendicular, sombre old clock, which, though at times apparently
coaxed almost to the verge of a smile, still continued its inevitable
tick, as for a century before.

On the hearth rug lay outstretched a great, lazy-looking, Maltese cat,
evidently enjoying the golden beam that fell upon his sober sides, and
sleepily opening and shutting his great green eyes, as if lost in
luxurious contemplation.

But the most characteristic figure in the whole picture was that of an
aged woman, who sat quiet