A few weeks passed, and the lad, liking both the business and his employer, his mother felt exceedingly anxious for him to remain.

But she sadly feared that this could not be.

Her little store was just about exhausted, and the most she had yet been able to earn by working for the shops, was a dollar and a half a week.

This was not more than sufficient to buy the plainest food for her little flock.

It would not pay rent, nor get clothing.