Desperate economy and hard work had kept his nose to the grindstone but, thank God, he had nose enough left.
Now and then Grimshaw (and others like him) loaned money to people, but he always had some worthless hay or a broken-down horse which you had to buy before you could get the money.
Mr.Barnes put down the flat iron and picked up the poker and tried its strength on his knee as he told how he had heard that it was a growing country near the great water highway of the St.Lawrence.

Prosperous towns were building up in it.

There were going to be great cities in Northern New York.

What they called a railroad was coming.

There were rich stores of lead and iron in the rocks.