Page:Arthur Stringer-The Loom of Destiny.djvu/23



INNEY was born lucky. No one knew this better than Dinney himself, who was, in a way, a sort of second Dr. Pangloss.

And, look at it from whatever standpoint you will, Dinney had many reasons to be happy. In the first place, he was as free as the wind, and answerable to no one but his own elastic conscience.

As for his wordly wants, he had plenty to eat, for he could live sumptuously on eight cents a day. Four cents were really enough, on a pinch, but Dinney found that he most always got a stomach-ache after a few days of four-cent diet.

In the second place, Dinney was never without a place to sleep. In fact, he had dozens of them. If it chanced to be winter, 11