de down, draw under, and drop across the rail, where
passing wheels ground it to pulp.

Kate stood very still a second, then she reached up and tried to pat
the disordered strands of hair into place. She turned and went back
into the day coach, opened the bandbox, and put on the sailor. She
resumed her old occupation of thinking things over. All the joy had
vanished from the day and the trip. Looking forward, it had seemed all
right to defy custom and Nancy Ellen's advice, and do as she pleased.
Looking backward, she saw that she had made a fool of herself in the
estimation of everyone in the car by not wearing the sailor, which was
suitable for her journey, and would have made no such mark for a
whirling wind.

She found travelling even easier than any one had told her. Each
station was announced. When she alighted, there were conveyances to
take her and her luggage to a hotel, patronized almost exclusively by
teachers, near the schools and lecture halls. Large front suites and
rooms were out of the question for Kate, but luckily a tiny corner room
at the back of the building was empty and when Kate specified how long
she would remain, she secured it at a less figure than she had expected
to pay. She began by almost starving herself at supper in order to
save enough money to replace her hat with whatever she could find that
would serve passably, and be cheap enough. That far she proceeded
stoically; but when night settled and she stood in her dressing jacket
brushing her hair, something gave way. Kate dropped on her bed and
cried into her pillow, as she never had cried before about anything.
It was not ALL about the hat. While she was at it, she shed a few
tears about every cruel thing that had happened to her since she could
remember that she had borne tearlessly at the time. It was a deluge
that left her breathless and exhausted. When she finally sat up, she
found the room so close, she gently opened her door and peeped into the
hall. There was a door opening on an outside veranda, running across
the end of the building and the length of the front.

As she looked from her door and listened intently, she heard the sound
of a woman's voice in choking, stifled sobs, in the room having a door
directly across the narrow hall from hers.

"My Lord! THERE'S TWO OF US!" said Kate.

She leaned closer, listening again, but when she heard a short groan
mingled with the sobs, she immediately tapped on the door. I