Little by little the Kimper family was made more comfortable and put in better condition for the coming winter.

Broken window-panes were mended, though frequently only with bits of board closely wedged, cracks in the wall were stuffed with dried grass and plastered with mud, and clean straw replaced the dirty substitutes for beds and mattresses.

The head of the family worked hard at the cobbler's shop, yet did not cease working when he reached home.
Yet week by week Sam looked better than in old times.

Conrad Weitz, the manager of the most popular drinking-place in the town, predicted that there would soon have to be a change for the worse.
"He ain't drinkin' noding," said Conrad; "and a feller dat's been drinkin' all his life can't get along midout it afterwards." The vender of stimulants said this to Deacon Quickset, for the two men were incessantly arguing over the liquor question, and never lost an opportunity of bringing up a new point about it when they met by any chance.

Weitz was a public-spirited and intelligent citizen, and the deacon believed that if his opinions about the moral nature of his business could be changed there would be a great gain for the temperance cause in Bruceton.