he would not! She loved
him--yes--only now she realized how dearly she loved him; but it was
just because she loved him that she would not forfeit his esteem. When
morning broke, she was still wide awake, thinking, thinking, her eyes
red and swollen from countless tears.

CHAPTER XX

The Gillies' new home was nothing to boast of. In fact they were
ashamed of its shabbiness and lived in constant dread of some of their
former acquaintances discovering their whereabouts and coming to see
them. Yet it was the best they could expect to find for the little
rent they were able to pay. Situated in one of the cheapest parts of
Harlem, the flat was in a row of tenement-like buildings, facing a
street always filled with noisy, unkempt children. The corridors and
staircases were gaudily decorated and the narrow halls and small
rooms, shut off from proper light and air, gave one a sense of
suffocation. The furnishings were of the scantiest. Jimmie having
incurred certain heavy debts, reckoning that the palmy days would
always last, had been forced to sell his household effects to satisfy
pressing creditors, so now they had to be satisfied with as few odd
cheap pieces as they could manage with--a plain deal dining-table and
a few ricketty chairs. Times were indeed hard. The shipping firm had
also made a cut in Jimmie's salary, reducing him from $14 to $13 a
week, so even with the $5 which Virginia contributed to the expenses,
strict economy had to be exercised in order to make both ends meet.

Fanny did her best to look cheerful under these depressing conditions,
but there were days when her patience was sorely tried and when she
found herself regretting that Virginia had "taken it so particular"
with Mr. Stafford. Of course, they all suffered by the sacrifice, but
most of the burden fell upon her. She certainly had the worst of it.
Virginia, away all day, at least escaped the household drudgery. It
was a terrible existence--scrubbing floors and washing dishes from
morning till night, seeing nobody, beginning to lose hope that she
would ever see a change for the better.

To-day she was feeling particularly tired and discouraged. She had
been kept busy all morning looking after the baby's wants and cleaning
the kitchen stove, and the exertion required by both duties had
completely exhausted her. Wiping her grimy hands on her apron, she
sank listlessly down on a chair in the kitchen to rest a while. It
could not be for lon