able, and
stood there with her gaze upon the bent figure of the cook in its long,
blue blouse. But she was scarcely interested in the man's labours. She
was not even waiting for him to complete them. She was just thinking,
filled with apprehension and without confidence. Her mind was made up to
a definite purpose whose seeming immensity left her staggered.

Nancy was no longer the distraught creature who had witnessed the
terrible night of fire and battle down at the mill. Many weeks had
passed since then. Weeks full of mental, bodily, and spiritual effort.
From the first dark moments when she had begged the privilege of nursing
the wounded missionary, broken in spirit, a beautiful creature well-nigh
demented with the horror of the thing she believed herself to be, the
woman soul of her had found a measure of peace.

It had been slow in coming. There had been moments when she had nearly
broken under the burden of conscience. There had been moments when the
weight of unutterable depression, and the sense of guilt, had come near
to robbing her of her last shred of mental balance. But the woman's
mission of nursing had saved her in the end. That, and the physical
effort to which she had applied herself.

It was all so single-minded and simple. It was all so beautifully
pathetic. Nancy had found a careless household rapidly decaying through
mannish indifference to comfort. She understood. These men were
completely absorbed in the service of the great mills, and nothing else
mattered to them. Oh, yes, that was understandable. She knew the
feeling. She knew how it robbed its victim of every other consideration
in life. So she had flung herself into the task of re-ordering the
household of which she had been forced to become a part, that she might
yield them comfort in their labours and help herself in her own effort
to obtain peace of mind.

She had transformed an untidy, uncared-for bachelor habitation into a
wholesome, clean establishment of well-ordered life. She had lifted a
lazy Chinaman into a reasonable specimen of comparative energy, and saw
to it that meals were well and carefully served, and partaken of at
regular hours by men who quickly discovered the futility of protest.

But her work by no means ended there. From one end to the other the
house was swept and garnished, and the neglect of years disposed of.
Bedrooms were transformed from mere sleeping places to luxury. Linen was
duly laundered, and clothing w