of the cheapest, are to be met with in the dwellings of the New York
poor. If we find something better in the present instance, it is not
because Paul and his mother are any better off than their neighbors. On
the contrary, there are few whose income is so small. But they have seen
better days, and the furniture we see has been saved from the time of
their comparative prosperity.

As Paul is still at his estimate, let us improve the opportunity by
giving a little of their early history.

Mr. Hoffman, the father of Paul, was born in Germany, but came to New
York when a boy of twelve, and there he grew up and married, his wife
being an American. He was a cabinetmaker, and, being a skillful workman,
earned very good wages, so that he was able to maintain his family in
comfort. They occupied a neat little cottage in Harlem, and lived very
happily, for Mr. Hoffman was temperate and kind, when an unfortunate
accident clouded their happiness, and brought an end to their
prosperity. In crossing Broadway at its most crowded part, the husband
and father was run over by a loaded dray, and so seriously injured that
he lived but a few hours. Then the precarious nature of their prosperity
was found out. Mr. Hoffman had not saved anything, having always lived
up to the extent of his income. It was obviously impossible for them to
continue to live in their old home, paying a rent of twenty dollars per
month. Besides, Paul did not see any good opportunity to earn his living
in Harlem. So, at his instigation, his mother moved downtown, and took
rooms in a tenement-house in Pearl street, agreeing to pay six dollars
a month for apartments which would now command double the price. They
brought with them furniture enough to furnish the three rooms, selling
the rest for what it would bring, and thus obtaining a small reserve
fund, which by this time was nearly exhausted.