It was hard to get money even for black salts.
Uncle Peabody had been silent and depressed for a month or more.

He had signed a note for Rodney Barnes, a cousin, long before and was afraid that he would have to pay it.

I didn't know what a note was and I remember that one night, when I lay thinking about it, I decided that it must be something in the nature of horse colic.

My uncle told me that a note was a trouble which attacked the brain instead of the stomach.

I was with Uncle Peabody so much that I shared his feeling but never ventured to speak of it or its cause.