Blooma," Rudnik muttered. "I once used to got a sister by the name
Blooma, and it ain't a bad name, neither." He was not entirely softened
by his mishap, however. "But, anyhow, that ain't here or there," he
said. "Women is just the same--always kicking. What is the matter with
this Home, Miss Duckman? It's an elegant place already."

"This ain't the Home," Miss Duckman explained. "This is a hospital,
which when you was hit by the engine they put you on the train and took
you up here."

"_Aber_ what are you doing here?" he asked after a pause.

"I come along," Miss Duckman said; "and now you shouldn't talk no
more."

"What d'ye mean, you come along?" he cried. "Didn't you go back to the
Home?"

Miss Duckman shook her head, and Rudnik turned on his pillow and looked
inquiringly at her.

"How long am I up here, anyhow?" he demanded.

"Four days," Miss Duckman said, and Rudnik closed his eyes again. For
ten minutes longer he lay still and then his lips moved.

"What did you say?" Miss Duckman asked.

"I says Blooma is a pretty good name already," he murmured, smiling
faintly, and the next moment he sank into a light sleep.

When he awoke Miss Duckman still sat by the side of his bed, her
fingers busy over the hem of a sheet, and he glanced nervously at the
window through which the late afternoon sun came streaming.

"Ain't it pretty late you should be away from the Home?" he inquired.
"It must be pretty near six, ain't it?"

"I know it," Miss Duckman said; "and the doctor says at six you should
take this here powder."

"_Aber_ shouldn't you got to be getting ready to go back to the Home?"
he asked.

Miss Duckman shook her head.

"I ain't going back no more," she answered. "I got enough of them
people."

Rudnik looked helplessly at her.

"But what would you do?" he said. "You ain't got no other place to go
to, otherwise you wouldn't got to live in a Home."

"Sure, I know," she replied as she prepared to give him his powder;
"but _Gott sei dank_ I still got my health, and I am telling the lady
superintendent here how they work me at the Home, and she says I could
stop here till I am finding something to do. I could cook already and I
could sew already, and if the worser comes to the worst I could find a
job in an underwear factory. They don't pay much, but a woman like me
she don't eat much. All I want is I could get a place to sleep, and I
bet yer I could make out fine. So you should please take the p