But by thus giving two dollars' worth of
thought to every dollar of expenditure, he made his money go a long way,
and the lively and personal interest he took in every little improvement,
made a garden fence to him of as much importance and satisfaction as a
new post-office would have been to the people of Thorbury.
One day he went into a hardware store of the town to buy some nails, and
there he met Miss Panney, who had just purchased a corkscrew.
"A thing you will not want for some time," she said, "for you do not look
as if you needed anything to cheer your soul. Now tell me, young man, is
it really the engagement rapture that has lasted all this time?"
"Oh, yes," said Ralph, laughing, "and besides that I have had all sorts
of good fortune. For instance, one of my hens, setting unbeknown to
anybody in a warm corner of the barn, has hatched out a dozen little
chicks. Think of that at this season! I have put them in a warm room, and
by the time we begin housekeeping we shall have spring chickens to eat
before anybody else.
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