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Show N DEBT- A man who is out of debt is out of danger, no one can deny that self-evident fact. He who avoids debt avoids numberless dangers. All the neighbors speak well of him. He is a favorite with the shopkeepers. The workmen declare he is a good master. He knows the state of his own money matters. He is honorable and just in all his dealings. You can depend on his word, for virtues, like certain birds, go in flocks, and never move alone. If misfortune overt ?? ?? he breaks the edge of it by not being in debt. "At all events," he says, "I have no bills to pay." He is not afraid of every ring at the bell, nor of the first man whom he meets being a creditor whom he is putting off. If a windfall arrives he can enjoy it. It is not all bespoken long before and swallowed up by the mouths of importunate debts. He can always make both ends meet, and often lay by something at the end of the year. He can help a poor relation, or give a needy friend a helping hand. He squares his accounts every month, perhaps every week, and always has money on hand. His "credit" is good, but he will not take advantage of that fact. He declines to make a show at the expense of others. Whatever he has, east, drinks, wears, drives, rides, uses, is paid for. If it were not he would hardly think it his, or that he had any right to it. |