Fred and his wife lived on a very small island. They were farmers, and apart from their farm there were only two other small farms on the island. When they needed provisions of any kind they had to go to the mainland in their little boat.
This was OK in the summer (unless there was a violent storm), but as the winter approached and the frost set in and the water started to freeze over the situation could become more problematic.
One year there was a prolonged period with so much ice that sailing across had become impossible, and at the same time the ice was not yet stable enough to carry a man and a sleigh.
Stocks were running low. No more coffee, hardly any oil left for the lamps and no beer to keep up spirits.
At last Fred decided that now the ice was probably safe. He sent his wife across with a sleigh to carry the goods on. He gave her a letter to give to the store manager on the other side.
She arrived safely at the other side, went up to the store not far from the beach, and gave the letter to Ben, the store manager.
The letter was a long list of all the items they needed. Fred's wife gave the letter to Ben, who opened it and started getting the provision ready. When he got to the end of the list there was a "PS":
"Dear Ben, could you please give me credit on this load. I'll send the money across as soon as I'm really sure the ice is safe".
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