already," said Mrs.
Schulenberg, whom Phillida encountered on the second flight of stairs,
descending with a market-basket on her arm. She was not the
strong-framed peasant, but of lighter build and somewhat finer fiber
than the average immigrant, and her dark hair and eyes seemed to point
to South Germany as her place of origin.

"Wilhelmina she so badly veels to-day," added Mrs. Schulenberg. "I don'
know"--and she shook her head ominously--"I vas mos' afraid to leef her
all py herself already. She is with bein' zick zo tired. She dalk
dreadful dis mornin' already; I don' know." And the mother went on down
the stairs shaking her head dolefully, while Phillida climbed up to the
Schulenberg apartment and entered without knocking, going straight over
to the couch where the emaciated girl lay, and kissing her.

Wilhelmina embraced her while Phillida pushed back the hair from the
pale, hard forehead with something like a shudder, for it was only skin
and skull. In the presence of sympathy Wilhelmina's mood of melancholy
desperation relaxed, and she began to shed tears.

"O Miss Callender, you have from black thoughts saved me to-day," she
said in a sobbing voice, speaking with a slight German accent. "If I
could only die. Here I drag down the whole family already. I make them
sorry. Poor Rudolph, he might be somebody if away off he would go wunst;
but no, he will not leave me. It is such a nice girl he love; I can see
that he love her. But he will say nothing at all. He feels so he must
not anyway leave his poor sister; and I hate myself and my life that for
all my family is unfortunate. Black thoughts will come. If, now, I was
only dead; if I could only find some way myself to put out of the way
wunst, for Rudolph it would be better, and after a while the house would
not any more so sorry be. Last night I thought much about it; but when
falling asleep I saw you plain come in the door and shake your head, and
I say, Miss Callender think it wicked. She will not let me. But I am so
wicked and unfortunate."

Here the frail form was shaken by hysterical weeping that cut off
speech. Phillida shed tears also, and one of them dropped on the
emaciated hand of Wilhelmina. Phillida quickly wiped it away with her
handkerchief, but another took its place.

"Let it be, Miss Callender," sobbed Wilhelmina; "it will surely make me
not so wicked."

She looked up wistfully at Phillida and essayed to speak; then she
turned her eyes aw