SEVEN YEARS Seven years slipped by unmarked by any important change.

The Hardings were still prosperous in an humble way.

The cooper had been able to obtain work most of the time, and this, with the annual remittance for little Ida, had enabled the family not only to live in comfort, but even to save up one hundred and fifty dollars a year.

They might even have saved more, living as frugally as they were accustomed to do, but there was one point in which they would none of them consent to be economical.
The little Ida must have everything she wanted.

Timothy brought home nearly every day some little delicacy for her, which none of the rest thought of sharing.