described her as distinguished but for the fact that the word
sounded ridiculous amid such surroundings.

"Looking for work?" the girl asked presently.

"Yes," Joan answered again, "only I am not sure what sort of work to
look for, or what I should like to do."

The girl lifted her eyes to stare at her once again. "It isn't generally
a case of 'like,'" she said, "more often it is necessity. In that
case"--she reached out a long arm for the bread--"Fate does not as a
rule give you much time in which to make up your mind; she pushes you
into something which you hate like hell for the rest of your life."

"You aren't very cheerful," remonstrated Joan.

"Oh, well, I never am that," agreed the other, "nor polite. You ask Miss
Nigel if you want a true estimate of my manners. But I have lived here
ten years now and I have seen girls like you drift in and out by the
score. The feeding or the general atmosphere doesn't agree with them,
and our ranks are maintained by beings of a coarser make, as you may see
for yourself."

She rose, crumpling her paper into a ball and throwing it under the
table.

"My name is Rose Brent," she said. "What is yours?"

"Rutherford," Joan answered, "Joan Rutherford. I hope I shan't drift
quite as quickly as you foretell," she added.

Secretarial work was what she had really made up her mind to try for,
though she had not had the courage to confess as much to her breakfast
companion. She had, after all, had a certain amount of training in that
and hoped not to find it so very impossible to get a post as a beginner
somewhere. Her first visit to the nearest registry office, however,
served to show her that her very slight experience was going to be of
little use to her. The registry lady was kind, sufficiently interested
to appear amiable, but not at all reassuring in her views as to Joan's
prospects.

"I am afraid I cannot hold out very much hope," she said, after five
minutes' crisp questioning of Joan. "You have, you see, so very few
qualifications, and the market is rather over-stocked with girls who can
do just a little. My strong advice to you is to continue your shorthand;
when you are a little more experienced in that we ought to have no
difficulty in placing you. Good morning; please see that the hall door
shuts properly, the latch is very weak."

Her business-like manner, the absolute efficiency which shone around
her, and the crowded aspect of the waiting-room--all girls who co