ght that her present helpless condition
would have shielded her from such slights, but it did not.

A few dollars still remained from the last rent money received from the
plumber, who always paid in advance, and upon this she lived for a week
or more after the death of her husband. She wondered how long it would
be before the Benevolent Building Association would sell the house, and
then how long before they would put her and the children into the
street. Upon visiting the undertaker she was surprised to learn that
all the expenses of her husband's funeral had been paid. It must have
been done by the company, since, having left the Brotherhood, her
husband could have had no claim upon the organization. Well, she was
glad it was paid, for the road that led into the future was rough and
uncertain.

One evening, when the baby had gone to sleep and the lone widow was
striving to entertain little Bennie, and at the same time to hide her
tears from him, for he had been asking strange questions about his
father's death, the bell rang and two of the neighbors came in. They
were striking firemen and she knew them well. One of the men handed her
a large envelope with an enormous seal upon it. She opened the letter
and found a note addressed to her and read it:

_Dear Mrs. Cowels:_

_Although your husband had deserted us, he had not been expelled,
but was still a member in good standing at the moment of his
death, and therefore legally entitled to the benefits of the order.
For your sake I am glad that it is so, and I take pleasure in
handing you a cheque for two thousand dollars, the amount of his
insurance, less the amount paid by the local lodge for funeral
expenses._

_Very truly yours_,
EUGENE V. DEBSON,
_Grand Secretary and Treasurer_.

She thanked them as well as she could and the men tried to say it was
all right, but they were awkward and embarrassed and after a few
commonplace remarks withdrew.

Mrs. Cowels sat for a long while looking at the cheque, turning it over
and reading the figures aloud to Bennie and explaining to him what an
enormous amount of money it was. And what a load had thus been lifted
from the slender shoulders of this lone woman! Now she could pay off the
mortgage and have nearly fourteen hundred dollars left. It seemed to her
that that amount ought to keep them almost for a lifetime. This relief,
coming so unexpectedly, had made he