Read "The Pearl of Charity" by Madeline Leslie online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
BUT notwithstanding all her pains, the widow found herself unable to meet her bills. Prices for every kind of groceries were so high, and the cost of fuel so dear, she feared she should be obliged to give up housekeeping. She confided her trouble to Mr. Monks, the teacher, who at once proposed to pay more for his rooms; and this gave her means to keep on for another year.
At the time our story opens, her funds had again become exhausted, and, but for her children, she would have sunk at once.