Horatio Alger 
Young Adventurer or Tom’s Trip Across the Plains 

MARK NELSON’S FAMILY. I wish I could pay off the mortgage on my farm, said Mark Nelson soberly, taking his seat on the left of the fireplace, in the room where his wife and family were assembled. Have you paid the interest, Mark? asked his wife. Yes; I paid it this afternoon, and it has stripped me of money completely. I have less than five dollars in my pocketbook toward buying you and the children clothes for the winter. Never mind me, said his wife cheerfully. I am pretty well provided for. Why, mother, said Sarah, the oldest daughter, a girl of fourteen; you haven’t had a new dress for a year. I have enough to last me till spring, at any rate, said the mother. You never buy anything for yourself. I don’t go in rags, do I? asked Mrs. Nelson, with a smile.