So much so, indeed, that I had thought of ordering smaller roasts for a week or two, and taking her to a Thomas Concert with the money saved.

But this evening she looked as if she did not need Thomas's orchestra.
"What makes you so bright, my dear ?" said I, when I had greeted her.
"Has anything jolly happened ?" "No," said she; "nothing yet, but I am going to make a fire to melt snow-balls." Of course I was very anxious to know how she was going to do it, but she would not tell me.

It was a plan that she intended to keep to herself until she saw how it worked.

I did not press her, because she had so few secrets, and I did not hear anything about this plan until it had been carried out.
Her scheme was as follows: After thinking over our financial condition and puzzling her brain to find out some way of bettering it, she had come to the conclusion that she would make some money by her own exertions, to help defray our household expenses.

She never had made any money, but that was no reason why she should not begin.