ctacles
which he employed always when reading, and laid them on it. For a moment
she felt very strange, somewhat like a thief--a new sensation for
her. She even felt a momentary sense of ingratitude coupled with pain.
Perhaps she was doing wrong. Her father had been very good to her. Her
mother would feel so very bad. Norah would be sorry, and Callum and
Owen. Still, they did not understand her any more. She was resentful of
her father's attitude. He might have seen what the point was; but no, he
was too old, too hidebound in religion and conventional ideas--he never
would. He might never let her come back. Very well, she would get along
somehow. She would show him. She might get a place as a school-teacher,
and live with the Calligans a long while, if necessary, or teach music.

She stole downstairs and out into the vestibule, opening the outer door
and looking out into the street. The lamps were already flaring in the
dark, and a cool wind was blowing. Her portmanteau was heavy, but she
was quite strong. She walked briskly to the corner, which was some fifty
feet away, and turned south, walking rather nervously and irritably, for
this was a new experience for her, and it all seemed so undignified, so
unlike anything she was accustomed to doing. She put her bag down on
a street corner, finally, to rest. A boy whistling in the distance
attracted her attention, and as he drew near she called to him: "Boy!
Oh, boy!"

He came over, looking at her curiously.

"Do you want to earn some money?"

"Yes, ma'am," he replied politely, adjusting a frowsy cap over one ear.

"Carry this bag for me," said Aileen, and he picked it up and marched
off.

In due time she arrived at the Calligans', and amid much excitement was
installed in the bosom of her new home. She took her situation with
much nonchalance, once she was properly placed, distributing her toilet
articles and those of personal wear with quiet care. The fact that she
was no longer to have the services of Kathleen, the maid who had served
her and her mother and Norah jointly, was odd, though not trying. She
scarcely felt that she had parted from these luxuries permanently, and
so made herself comfortable.

Mamie Calligan and her mother were adoring slaveys, so she was not
entirely out of the atmosphere which she craved and to which she was
accustomed.

Chapter XLVI

Meanwhile, in the Butler home the family was assembling for dinner. Mrs.
Butler was sitt