He could not "keep a hotel," and he did not aspire to do so. He was contented with enough to eat and enough to wear.
I am still a young man; but our firm is Bradford Brothers. We are doing well, and in time hope to make a fortune. Whether I do so or not, I shall still be happy, for my wife--whom I picked up one day on the Mississippi River--is joy enough for this world, though I have another, and almost equal joy, in dear Flora, whose home is also mine. We are blessed of G.o.d, and blessed in ourselves, for we are as loving and devoted to each other as when, years ago, on the raft, we journeyed DOWN THE RIVER.