He insisted
upon paying up all the old bills and establishing a monthly budget.
When, after the rent had been deducted from the sum he expected to earn,
Milly proved to him that they could not live on what was left, he
whistled and said he must "dig it up somehow," and he did. He became
indefatigably industrious in picking up odd dollars, extending his funny
column, doing posters, and making extra sketches for the sporting sheet.
In spite of these added fives and tens, they usually exceeded the budget
by a third, and when Jack looked grave, Milly of course explained just
how exceptional the circumstances had been.
It is not worth while to go into the budgetary details of this
particular matrimonial venture. Other story-tellers have done that with
painful literalness, and nothing is drearier than the dead accounts of
the butcher and baker, necessary as they are. The essential truths of
domestic finance are very simple, and invariable: in the last analysis
they come to one horn of the eternal dilemma,--fewer wants or more
dollars. In America it is usually the second horn of the dilemma that
the husband valiantly embraces--it seems the easier one at the time, at
least the more comfortable horn upon which to be impaled. Milly was
convinced that the first horn was impossible, if they were to "live
decently." Bragdon began to think they might do better in New York,
where the market for incidental art was larger and the pay better.
Pages:
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173