ariness--the aching, burning, sagging, sickening, faint
_tiredness_!

If ever again, as long as I live, I'm cross to a saleswoman, no
matter how cross she may be to me, then may God send a sudden angel
down to grasp me by the hair and bear me far and drop me into the
kitchen ware on eight a week and my throbbing feet!

JANE.

_Saturday Night._

MY DEARS, I'm turned off. After all the trying and enduring and the
dead-tiredness, I'm turned off. The kind little floorwalker hated to
do it. "Say, listen, sister," he said, "it's like this. We gotter let
somebuddy go. Holidays comin', people ain't goin' to buy kitchen
ware. Sure they ain't. Plug up th' leakin' kettle an' buy Mummer th'
rhinestone combs! Well, you're the last to come, see? You gotter be
the first to go."

I bought Mrs. Mussel a shrinking bunch of violets to soften the blow,
but she wondered if I couldn't get my money back (_her_ money she
figures, poor thing!) if I hurried right downtown with them and
explained that I'd changed my mind.

Heavens, but we had a horrible supper.

Very down indeed,

JANE.

_Monday Night._

DEAR PEOPLE,

I'm doing my best to uplift Mrs. Mussel, but she's the undisputed
Queen of all the Glooms and my sprightly efforts fall on stony
ground. For her peace of mind I divulged the fact that I have nearly
thirty dollars left which makes me really a capitalist, but in her
eyes I am simply an Unemployed.

I rush into the house glowing and braced from a brisk walk but my
cheer soon gutters out,--I might as well try to illuminate a London
fog with a Christmas tree candle.

I try to help her with her errands and marketing and to-day I was
staggering home under a load of parcels and slipped on the glassy
pavement just in front of the house and fell flat. A smart motor
which was spinning by slid to a standstill and the driver jumped out
and ran back to me. He was a beautiful big youth and the machine was
one of those low, classy, dachshund effects in mauve. THE MAIDEN'S
DREAM picked me up and all my packages and looked us all over to make
sure we weren't damaged. One of the parcels contained liver, and it
became unwrapped.... (Dost like the picture, Jane Vail bearing home
the liver for her frugal evening meal?) He did it up very deftly and
then he asked me if