long day ended and gone, while the
voices of the girl toilers rose superbly and filled the gathering
stillness with the soft crescendo refrain:

"Wandering along where each smiling face hides its story of
lost careers;
And perhaps she is dreaming of you to-night, in the City of
Sighs and Tears--
In the City of Sighs and Tears."

VII

IN WHICH I ACQUIRE A STORY-BOOK NAME AND MAKE THE ACQUAINTANCE OF MISS
HENRIETTA MANNERS

Before entering upon my second day's work at the box-factory, and before
detailing any of the strange things which that day brought forth, I feel
it incumbent upon me to give some word of explanation as to my
whereabouts during the intervening night. It will be remembered that
when I left the factory at the end of the first day, I had neither a
lodging nor a trunk. I will not dwell upon the state of my feelings when
I walked out of Thompson Street in the consciousness that if I had been
friendless and homeless before, I was infinitely more so now. I will say
nothing of the ache in my heart when my thoughts traveled toward the
pile of ruins in Fourteenth Street, with the realization of my
helplessness, my sheer inability even to attempt to do a one last humble
little act of love and gratitude for the dead woman who had been truly
my friend.

Briefly stated, the facts are these: I had, all told, one dollar, and I
walked from Thompson Street straight to the Jefferson Market
police-station, which was not a great distance away. I stated my case to
the matron, a kindly Irishwoman. I was afraid to start out so late in
the evening to look for a lodging for the night. I would have thought
nothing of such a thing a few weeks previous, but the knowledge of life
which I had gained in my brief residence in Fourteenth Street and from
the advice of Mrs. Pringle had showed me the danger that lurked in such
a course. The police matron said my fears were well founded, and she
gave me the address of a working-girls' home over on the East Side,
which she said was not the pleasantest place in the world for a
well-brought-up girl of refinement and intelligence, such as she took me
to be, but was cheap, and in which I would be sure of the protection
which any young, inexperienced woman without money needs so badly in
this wicked city. She wrote down the address for me, and I had started
to the door of her little office when her motherly eye noticed how
fagged out and lame I was-