unning in the streets every minute all the
time, and you see a baby would be sort of nice company for Julia,
and you know you are always saying Anna, Julia should not be on the
streets so much and the baby will be so good to keep her in."

Anna was every minute paler with indignation and with heat.

"Mrs. Lehntman, I don't see what business it is for you to take
another baby for your own, when you can't do what's right by Julia and
Willie you got here already. There's Julia, nobody tells her a thing
when I ain't here, and who is going to tell her now how to do things
for that baby? She ain't got no sense what's the right way to do with
children, and you out all the time, and you ain't got no time for your
own neither, and now you want to be takin' up with strangers. I know
you was careless, Mrs. Lehntman, but I didn't think that you could
do this so. No, Mrs. Lehntman, it ain't your duty to take up with no
others, when you got two children of your own, that got to get along
just any way they can, and you know you ain't got any too much money
all the time, and you are all so careless here and spend it all the
time, and Julia and Willie growin' big. It ain't right, Mrs. Lehntman,
to do so."

This was as bad as it could be. Anna had never spoken her mind so to
her friend before. Now it was too harsh for Mrs. Lehntman to allow
herself to really hear. If she really took the meaning in these words
she could never ask Anna to come into her house again, and she
liked Anna very well, and was used to depend on her savings and her
strength. And then too Mrs. Lehntman could not really take in harsh
ideas. She was too well diffused to catch the feel of any sharp firm
edge.

Now she managed to understand all this in a way that made it easy for
her to say, "Why, Anna, I think you feel too bad about seeing what the
children are doing every minute in the day. Julia and Willie are real
good, and they play with all the nicest children in the square. If
you had some, all your own, Anna, you'd see it don't do no harm to let
them do a little as they like, and Julia likes this baby so, and sweet
dear little boy, it would be so kind of bad to send him to a 'sylum
now, you know it would Anna, when you like children so yourself,
and are so good to my Willie all the time. No indeed Anna, it's easy
enough to say I should send this poor, cute little boy to a 'sylum
when I could keep him here so nice, but you know Anna, you wouldn't
like to do