Don't crumple it.
Don't get it dirty. But above all things don't lose it, or let it be
stolen from you. If you do, you may lose your entire deposit. We cannot
remember you all. Whoever brings your book here may draw out your money.
So put this book in a safe place, and keep a sharp eye on it. Remember
every word I have told you, or we will not be responsible."
The old Squire encouraged us to have a nest egg at the bank, and by the
end of the year there were seven bank books at the farm, all carefully
put away under lock and key, in fact there were nine, counting the two
that belonged to our hired men, Asa and Jim Doane. Acting on the old
Squire's exhortation to practise thrift, they vowed that they would lay
up a hundred dollars a year from their wages. The Doanes had worked for
us for three or four years. Asa was a sturdy fellow of good habits; but
Jim, his younger brother, had a besetting sin. About once a month,
sometimes oftener, he wanted a playday; we always knew that he would
come home from it drunk, and that we should have to put him away in some
sequestered place and give him a day in which to recover.
For two or three days afterwards Jim would be the meekest, saddest, most
shamefaced of human beings.
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