s in the calendar upon her
head, and told her tearfully that it would be a sorry day for the Row
that took her away from it.

"It's God's own blessing you've been to the whole tenement!" she
proclaimed volubly on every occasion, and, remembering the changes that
had been brought about directly and indirectly by her efforts, Mary
knew that it was so, and felt all the more strongly that she would be
doing wrong to abandon the work.

Mr. Blythe was able to be out again by Christmas time. The two boys came
home for the holidays, and for two weeks Mary helped with the
entertaining that went on in the big house. There was no question now of
her going back to the boarding-house at Mrs. Crum's. Mrs. Blythe said
that having once experienced the comfort of having a daughter in the
house, she could not dispense with her. She could go off to the capital
now with a free conscience, leaving Mary in charge of the establishment.
So, in January she went, and for several weeks waited for the bill to
come up before the Legislature; busy weeks in which she was occupied all
day long in making new friends for her cause.

Then she wrote home cheerfully that the bill had come up. There had been
much opposition, and it had been cut down and amended till it would fit
only the larger cities of the state. They had gained only a part of what
they had asked for, but that was something, and they would go on
awakening public sentiment until the next session, and bring it up
again. The fight would have to be made all over again, but they would
make it valiantly, hoping for absolute victory next time. She would be
home in a few days.

Up till this time Mary had not realized how anxiously she was looking
forward to the passage of the bill. Upon its fate depended her own, for
as one draws straws to decide a matter, she had made up her mind to let
its outcome settle the question which had troubled her so long. If it
went through successfully, and the State thus proved that it was fully
awake to its duty, then she would feel that her obligation was ended.
That was the specific work she had pledged herself to do. But if it
failed--well, it would break her heart, but she'd have to keep the
tryst, no matter what it cost her.

Her intense desire for its success gradually led her to feel that it was
assured, and the news of only a partial victory left her as undecided as
before. To escape the mood of depression which seized her the snowy
Sunday night befor