, and the evident
prosperity of Mrs. Smith's husband's folks, among whom it appeared she
had only recently appeared as "Jeff's" bride. Having exhausted the
Smiths, she again gave Phoebe the floor by asking:

"Are you going to-night?"

"Well, I should say! Don't I look it?"

To determine by Phoebe's appearance where she might be going were an
impossibility to the uninitiated, for her dress was an odd combination
of the extremes of wretchedness and luxury. A woefully torn and
much-soiled shirt-waist; a gorgeous gold watch worn on her breast like a
medal; a black taffeta skirt, which, under the glue-smeared apron,
emitted an unmistakable frou-frou; three Nethersole bracelets on her
wrist; and her feet incased in colossal shoes, broken and stringless.
The latter she explained to Mrs. Smith.

"I just swiped a pair of paw's and brought them along this morning, or
I'd be dished for getting into them high heels to-night. My corns and
bunions 'most killed me yesterday--they always do break out bad about
Easter. My pleasure club," she explained, turning to me--"my pleasure
club, 'The Moonlight Maids,' give a ball to-night." Which fact likewise
explained the curl-papers as well as the slattern shirt-waist, donned to
save the evening bodice worn to the factory that morning and now tucked
away in a big box under the table.

A whole side of our pretty violet-sprinkled bower caved in as a little
"turner-in" lurched against it in passing with a top-heavy column of
boxes. Through the opening daylight is visible once more, and from the
region of the machines is heard a chorus of voices singing "The Fatal
Wedding."

"Hot a--i--r!" Phoebe intones derisively. "It's a wonder Angelina
wouldn't get a new song. Them strippers sing that 'Fatal Wedding' week
in and week out."

We worked steadily, and as the hours dragged on I began to grow dead
tired. The awful noise and confusion, the terrific heat, the foul smell
of the glue, and the agony of breaking ankles and blistered hands seemed
almost unendurable.

At last the hour-hand stood at twelve, and suddenly, out of the
turmoil, a strange quiet fell over the great mill. The vibrations that
had shaken the whole structure to its very foundations now gradually
subsided; the wheels stayed their endless revolutions; the flying belts
now hung from the ceiling like long black ribbons. Out of the stillness
girl-voices and girl-laughter echoed weirdly, like a horn blown in a
dream, while sweete