n her case this was
clothes) she was more or less indifferent about others. Witness how
little interest she had taken in the labored beauties of Florence
McCrea's house, even in the unthinking days before she had begun
worrying about the expense of that establishment. Her indifference had
always made Portia boil. Also it may be noted, that Florence McCrea
herself, always went about looking a perfect frump.

So that, by the time Rose's apartment was furnished to the point of
adequate comfort and decency, she took it for granted and stopped there.
For her, the temptations of old brass, mezzo-tints, and Italian
majolica--Fourth Avenue generally--simply did not exist.

She bought real china to eat her breakfasts out of, and the occasional
suppers she had at home. She had had enough of thick cups and plates in
the last six months to last her the rest of her life. And it is probable
that she ate up, literally, the margin she had under Gertrude Morse's
rule, in somewhat better restaurants than she need have patronized.

She did save money though, and put it away in a safe bank. But she never
saved quite so much as she was always meaning to, and she carried along,
for months after she went to work for Galbraith, an almost guilty sense
of luxury. In spite of the fact that she was working very hard and of
the further fact that her hours of labor were largely coincident with
the leisure hours of other people, she made a good many friends. The
first of these was Gertrude Morse, and it was through her, directly or
indirectly, that she acquired the others.

Gertrude was Abe Shuman's confidential secretary and you can get a
fairly good working notion of her by conceiving the type of person
likely to be found in the borderland of theatrical enterprises, and
then, in all respects, taking the exact antithesis of it. She was a
brisk, prim-mannered, snub-nosed little thing, who wore her hair brushed
down as flat as possible and showed an affection for mannish clothes.
She had a level head, a keen and rather biting wit, which had the
effect of making her constant acts of kindness always unexpected; and
an education which, in her surroundings, seemed almost fantastic. She
was a Radcliff Master of Arts.

Every one who had any dealings with Abe Shuman perforce knew Gertrude,
and Rose got acquainted with her the first day. Galbraith introduced
them in Shuman's office, and Rose found herself being investigated by a
bright, penetrating and d