terrible one.
My sister Amy suddenly died. I am here now to care for her child. But
am I? Nothing of the kind. The nurse does that and I do nothing. I
just sit or walk about and scowl at what I am missing. No more from me,
girls, until the round robin--the dear splendid thrilling round
robin--comes back here on its next yearly round. I swear I'll have a
job by then! Good luck and God bless us all! We're young!"

Quickly she crammed all the letters into a large envelope, licked it,
pressed it firmly down, and addressed it to, "Miss Barbara Wells,
Bismarck, North Dakota." She stamped it, felt the tears come, kissed the
letter a fierce good-bye, took it out and dropped it in the mail box in
the hall. Then she came back to her own room, and with swift,
determined jerks took off the black cloth wrapping of a large
old-fashioned typewriter, one of the few belongings she had brought from
Ohio. She had purchased it several years ago, and by typing sermons and
other occasional documents she had earned almost money enough for the
clothes that had cost so little at home.

She sat down and began to pound the keys, but soon she stopped and shook
her head. She had never been an expert. Self-taught, her work had been
laboured and slow, and the lapse of months had thrown her out.
"However! Something must be done!" And the pounding went on for days
and days, hour after hour; and when her fingers, wrists and arms felt
like "two long tooth-aches," she exclaimed impatiently:

"Oh, for goodness sake stop being so soft! You're a new woman, Ethel
Knight, and you're going to earn your living!"

At times, however, stopping to rest and carefully scan her labour for
faults, her mind would rove far out into life. She was copying from two
books the little "prof" had given her, the "Life and Letters of George
Sand"; and "The Work of Susan B. Anthony." And as Ethel pounded on, each
book in its own way revealed exciting vistas to her eyes of life in
great cities both here and abroad, life earnest and inspiring, life
bright and thrilling, brilliant, free!

"Oh, your future life, my love, will be far from dull and blinking!"

And this mood lasted for two weeks. Then as her hand grew more expert,
and she scanned the papers for information of employment bureaus, there
came some ugly hours when much pounding was required. She went out and
tramped the streets, meeting the town with angry eyes that struggled for
self-confidence. And twice, although sh