Her father had been a poor man, her husband had died a poor man, and her own life had been a struggle to keep the demons of poverty and want from invading her humble abode.
Mr.Bright, her deceased husband, had been a day laborer in Riverdale.
He never got more than a dollar a day, which was then considered very good wages in the country.

He was a very honest, industrious man, and while he lived, his family did very well.

Mrs.Bright was a careful, prudent woman, and helped him support the family.

They never knew what it was to want for any thing.
Poor people, as well as rich, have an ambition to be something which they are not, or to have something which they have not.

Every person, who has an energy of character, desires to get ahead in the world.
Some merchants, who own big ships and big warehouses by the dozen, desire to be what they consider rich.