able
and two chairs, a small stove in which burned bare handful of coals, the
two machines, at one of which a girl of twenty still sewed on, and in
the corner a bed, on which lay another girl of the same age, but with
the crimson spot on her cheeks and the shining eyes of advanced
consumption. It had been one of the faces so often seen behind the
counters of the great stores, delicate in features and coloring, with
soft dark eyes and fair masses of hair loose on the pillow.

"I try to keep her tidy," the mother said, "but she can't bear her hair
up a minute, it's so heavy on her head, an' I've no time to 'tend to it
but the minute I take in the morning. It's jackets now that I'm on. I
thought maybe there'd be less risk in them than cloaks. Cloaks seem to
give 'em so much chance to cheat. I wouldn't work at all at home, I'd be
out doing by the day, for I had a good run of work, but there's Maggie,
and I can't leave her, though God knows she gets little good of me but
the knowing I'm here. I'll tell you what they did to me on cloaks. I
work for S---- & Co., far down on Broadway, and they give out the most
expensive kind of cloaks, and nine dollars a dozen for the making; other
kinds, too, but I'd been on them a good while and knew just how. The pay
was regular, but before I'd had work from them a month I saw they were
bound to make complaints and dock pay whether there was any fault in the
work or not. One and another took their turn, and no help for it; for if
they complained the foreman just said: 'You needn't take any work unless
you like. There are plenty waiting to fill your place.' Poor souls! What
could they do but go on?

"At last came my turn. He tossed them all over. 'It's poor work,' he
said. 'They're not finished properly. You can't be paid for botching.
There's three dollars, and that's too much.' 'The work is the same it's
always been. There's no botching,' I said; but he held out the three
dollars. 'No,' I said, 'If you won't pay fair I'll go to the Woman's
Protective Union and see what they'll do.' His face was black as
thunder. 'Take your money,' he says, holding out the rest, 'but you may
sing for more work from this establishment,' and he flung the money on
the floor. That didn't trouble me, because I knew I could get work just
below, and I did that same day; twenty cloaks, ten to be made at sixty
cents apiece, and ten at fifty-five cents. I had Angie here to help, and
when they were done I carried the