This girl's home was one of the cheapest in that cheap town. Her
people not only were poor, but lived more poorly than they had to.
They had, in consequence, a little reserve of funds, which they
took pride in keeping up. The three Thropps came now to New York
for the first time in their three lives. They were almost as ignorant
as the other peasant immigrants that steam in from the sea.
Adna Thropp, the father, was a local claim-agent on a small railroad.
He spent his life pitting his wits against the petty greed of honest
farmers and God-fearing, railroad-hating citizens. If a granger let
his fence fall down and a rickety cow disputed the right of way with
a locomotive's cow-catcher, the granger naturally put in a claim for
the destruction of a prize-winning animal with a record as an amazing
milker; also he added something for damage to the feelings of the
family in the loss of a household pet. It was Adna's business to beat
the shyster lawyers to the granger and beat the granger to the last
penny. One of his best baits was a roll of cash tantalizingly waved
in front of his victim while he breathed proverbs about the delayful
courts.
This being Adna's livelihood, it was not surprising that his habit
of mind gave pennies a grave importance. Of course, he carried his
mind home with him from the office, and every demand of his wife
or children for money was again a test of ability in claim-agency
tactics. He fought so earnestly for every cent he gave down that his
dependents felt that it was generally better to go without things
than to enter into a life-and-death struggle for them with Pa.
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