on
Joe, a story with which the inhabitants occasionally entertained
strangers. In other words, she was of no consequence socially or
financially.

Looking neither to the right nor to the left as she swung her leaders
around the corner, yet no sign of the town's retrogression since her
last visit escaped her--any more than did the mean small-town smirk upon
the faces of a group of doorway loafers, who commented humorously upon
the "Sheep Queen's" arrival.

Yet there were tiny straws which showed that the wind was quartering. A
few persons inclined their heads slightly in greeting, while the
deference due a customer who paid cash was creeping into the manner of
Scales of the Emporium. And there were others.

These small things she noted with satisfaction. It was the kind of coin
she demanded in payment for isolation and hardships. She did not want
their friendship; she wanted merely their recognition. To force from
those who had gone out of their way to insult and belittle her the tacit
admission of her success was a portion of the task she had set herself.
Her purpose, and the means of attaining it were as clear in her mind as
a piece of war strategy.

Kate gauged her position with intuitive exactness, and could quite
impersonally see herself as Prouty saw her. She had no hallucinations on
that score and knew that she was a long way yet from the fulfillment of
her ambition. When she had reached a point where to decry her success
was to proclaim her disparager envious or absurd, she would be
satisfied; until then, she considered herself no more successful than
the failures about her who yet found room to laugh at her.

Kate now shrugged a shoulder imperceptibly as she noted that another
store building was empty. So the tailor had flitted? She recalled the
Western adage concerning towns with no Jews in them and smiled faintly.
Two doors below, still another shop was vacant. "To Let" signs were not
synonymous with prosperity. Hiram Butefish supported his back against
the door jamb in an attitude which did not suggest any pressing
business. Mrs. Sudds, who formerly had passed Kate with a face that was
ostentatiously blank, now stared at her with a certain inquisitive
amiability. Major Prouty sitting in front of the post office waved a
hand at her that was comparatively friendly. Oh, yes--the wind was
beginning to blow from a new direction, undoubtedly.

She stopped in front of the bank, where she kept an account only