"
"Cheat me!"
"Yes; for instance the amount spent on coffee and sugar is too large."
"How do you know?"
"I saw it in your account book."
"Indeed! You poked your nose into my books?"
"Poked my nose into your books? No, but I took it upon me to check
your...."
"What business was it of yours?"
"And I found that you keep books without having the slightest
knowledge of denominate quantities or decimal fractions."
"What? You think I don't know?"
"No, you don't! And therefore the foundations of the establishment are
shaky. Your book-keeping is all humbug, old girl!"
"My book-keeping concerns no one but myself."
"Incorrect book-keeping is an offence punishable by law; if you are
not liable, then I am."
"The law? I care a fig for the law!"
"I daresay! But we shall get into its clutches, if not you, then most
certainly I! And therefore I am going to be book-keeper in the future."
"We can engage a man to do it."
"No, that's not necessary! I have nothing else to do."
And that settled the matter.
But once the husband occupied the chair at the desk and the people
came to see _him_, the wife lost all interest in farming and
cattle-breeding.
A violent reaction set in; she no longer attended to the cows and
calves, but remained in the house.
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