"
"Well, it is difficult to answer that all in a minute. Perhaps twenty-
five thousand on mortgage, and a few floating debts."
"And what is the place worth?"
"It used to be worth between fifty and sixty thousand pounds. It is
impossible to say what it would fetch now. Land is practically a drug
in the market. But things will come round, my dear. It is only a
question of holding on.
"Then if you borrow a fresh sum in order to take up this farm, you
will owe about thirty thousand pounds, and if you give five per cent.,
as I suppose you do, you will have to pay fifteen hundred a year in
interest. Now, father, you said that in the good times the land
brought in two thousand a year, so, of course, it can't bring in so
much now. Therefore, by the time that you have paid the interest,
there will be nothing, or less than nothing, left for us to live on."
Her father winced at this cruel and convincing logic.
"No, no," he said, "it is not so bad as that. You jump to conclusions,
but really, if you do not mind, I am very tired, and should like to go
to bed."
"Father, what is the use of trying to shirk the thing just because it
is disagreeable?" she asked earnestly. "Do you suppose that it is more
pleasant to me to talk about it than it is for you? I know that you
are not to blame about it.
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