it is easy to plan a method of living and to carry it out. The sacrifices
one must make in the house superficially, in the consideration of a
certain class, are cheerfully borne and soon forgotten.

Little discomforts which affect only one's feelings and not one's health
make rather good stories after they are over. What is worth while? Are we
become too sensitive to little things? Do we imagine we show our higher
civilization by discerning with the little princess the pea under
twenty-four feather beds?

Let our shelter be first of all healthful, physically and morally. If to
gain these qualities we must take a house in an unfashionable
neighborhood, it should not cause distress. Why is this particular region
unfashionable? Is it not merely because certain would-be leaders choose
to live beyond their means in company with those who are able to spend
more?

Why not be honest and happy? Live within your income and make it cover the
truest kind of living.




CHAPTER VIII.


TO OWN OR TO RENT: A DIFFICULT QUESTION.

"Half the sting of poverty is gone when one keeps house for
one's own comfort and not for the comment of one's neighbors."