es enough."

Some of the women cried and all the men shook hands cordially and
wished us good luck. But it didn't mean much to me. The time I needed
their handshakes was gone. I learned later that as a result of our
secrecy I was variously credited with having lost my reason with my
job; with having inherited a fortune, with having gambled in the
market, with, thrown in for good measure, a darker hint about having
misappropriated funds of the United Woollen. But somehow their
nastiest gossip did not disturb me. It had no power to harm either me
or mine. I was already beyond their reach. Before I left I wished them
all Godspeed on the dainty journey they were making in their
cockleshell. Then so far as they were concerned I dropped off into the
sea with my wife and boy.

CHAPTER V

WE PROSPECT

We were lucky in getting into a new tenement and lucky in securing the
top floor. This gave us easy access to the flat roof five stories
above the street. From here we not only had a magnificent view of the
harbor, but even on the hottest days felt something of a sea breeze.
Coming down here in June we appreciated that before the summer was
over.

The street was located half a dozen blocks from the waterfront and was
inhabited almost wholly by Italians, save for a Frenchman on the
corner who ran a bake-shop. The street itself was narrow and dirty
enough, but it opened into a public square which was decidedly
picturesque. This was surrounded by tiny shops and foreign banks, and
was always alive with color and incident. The vegetables displayed on
the sidewalk stands, the gay hues of the women's gowns, the gaudy
kerchiefs of the men, gave it a kaleidoscopic effect that made it as
fascinating to us as a trip abroad. The section was known as Little
Italy, and so far as we were concerned was as interesting as Italy
itself.

There were four other families in the house, but the only things we
used in common were the narrow iron stairway leading upstairs and the
roof. The other tenants, however, seldom used the latter at all except
to hang out their occasional washings. For the first month or so we
saw little of these people. We were far too busy to make overtures,
and as for them they let us severely alone. They were not noisy, and
except for a sick baby on the first floor we heard little of them
above the clamor of the street below. We had four rooms. The front
room we gave to the boy, the next room we ourselves occupie