As the Treasurer of the company, she also reported that there was not a cent in its coffers.
In this emergency, Harry called a meeting of the Board.
It met, as this was an important occasion, in Davis's corn-house, fortunately now empty.

This was a cool, shady edifice, and, though rather small, was very well ventilated.

The meetings had generally been held under some big tree, or in various convenient spots in the woods near the creek, but nothing of that kind would be proper for such a meeting as this, especially as Kate, as Treasurer, was to be present.
This was her first appearance at a meeting of the Board.

The boys sat on the corn-house floor, which had been nicely swept out by John William Webster, and Kate had a chair on the grass, just outside of the door.
There she could hear and see with great comfort without "settin' on the floor with a passel of boys," as Miss Eliza Davis, who furnished the chair, elegantly expressed it.
When the meeting had been called to order (and John William, who evinced a desire to hang around and find out what was going on, had been discharged from further attendance on the Board, or, in other words, had been ordered to "clear out"), and the minutes of the last meeting had been read, and the Treasurer had read her written report, and the Secretary had read his, an air of despondency seemed to settle upon the assembly.
An empty corn-house seemed, as Tom Selden remarked, a very excellent place for them to meet.
The financial condition of the company was about as follows: It owed "One-eyed Lewston" and Aunt Judy one dollar each for one month's rent of their homesteads as stations, the arrangement having been made about the time the instruments were ordered.
It owed four dollars and twenty cents to the wood-cutters who worked on the construction of the line, and two dollars and a half for other assistance at that time.
("Wish we had done it all ourselves," said Wilson Ogden.) It owed three dollars, balance on furniture procured at Hetertown.

(It also owed one chair, borrowed.) It owed, for spikes and some other hardware procured at the store, one dollar and sixty cents.
In addition to this, it owed John William Webster, who had been employed as a sort of general agent to run errands and clean up things, seventy-five cents--balance of salary--and he wanted his money.
To meet these demands, as was before remarked, they had nothing.
Fortunately nothing was owing for Aunt Matilda's support, Harry and Kate having from the first determined never to run in debt on her account.
But, unfortunately, poor Aunt Matilda's affairs were never in so bad a condition.