Old Jacob Patterson proved obdurate . He laughed to scorn the tale of the blotted note and , indeed , Ernest sadly admitted to himself that it was not a story anybody would be in a hurry to believe . `` There 's nothing for it but to sell our house and pay the debt , Mother , '' he said at last . Ernest had grown old in the days that had followed Jacob Patterson 's demand . His boyish face was pale and haggard . `` Jacob Patterson will take the case into the law courts if we do n't settle at once . Mr. White offered to lend me the money on a mortgage on the place , but I could never pay the interest out of my salary when we have nothing else to live on . I would only get further and further behind . I 'm not afraid of hard work , but I dare not borrow money with so little prospect of ever being able to repay it . We must sell the place and rent that little four-roomed cottage of Mr. Percy 's down by the river to live in . Oh , Mother , it half kills me to think of your being turned out of your home like this ! '' It was a bitter thing for Mrs. Duncan also , but for Ernest 's sake she concealed her feelings and affected cheerfulness . The house and lot were sold , Mr. White being the purchaser thereof ; and Ernest and his mother removed to the little riverside cottage with such of their household belongings as had not also to be sold to make up the required sum . Even then , Ernest had to borrow two hundred dollars from Mr. White , and he foresaw that the repayal of this sum would cost him much self-denial and privation . It would be necessary to cut their modest expenses down severely . For himself Ernest did not mind , but it hurt him keenly that his mother should lack the little luxuries and comforts to which she had been accustomed . He saw too , in spite of her efforts to hide it , that leaving her old home was a terrible blow to her . Altogether , Ernest felt bitter and disheartened ; his step lacked spring and his face its smile . He did his work with dogged faithfulness , but he no longer found pleasure in it . He knew that his mother secretly pined after her lost home where she had gone as a bride , and the knowledge rendered him very unhappy .
* * * * * Paul Sinclair , his father 's friend and cousin , died XXXXX winter , leaving two small children .
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