her wet eyes. "Then you like to have Mary Rose here?"

"I'll tell you the truth, Kate, dear. The little thing has made
herself necessary to me. That's what she's done. We got along all
right without her but that was because we didn't know what it was to
have a kid in the house. No, sir, Mary Rose is one of the fam'ly and
she stays with the fam'ly. She's good for the tenants, too. See what
she's done for Mrs. Willoughby an' Mrs. Schuneman. The ol' lady called
me in to hear her bird sing this very morning. An' Mrs. Bracken, who's
so busy club workin' for other folks she hasn't any time for her home,
tells me Mary Rose is the biggest kind of a help to her. I thought she
was goin' to jaw me about fixin' that back window 't sticks a bit. I
should have fixed it before but it clean slipped my mind, an' I up an'
asked her how Mary Rose was doing. She forgot the window to talk about
the kid. 'Ain't she small for her age?' says she. 'I guess you don't
know much about childern,' says I. 'Mary Rose's as big as she should
be!' 'When I was fourteen,' says she, 'I weighed a hunderd an' ten
poun's.' 'That's a good weight for a growing girl,' says I. 'I don't
believe you weigh much more'n that now, Mrs. Bracken,' says I. And
that ended it. She weighs a hunderd an' thirty if she weighs a pound.
An' then there's the Johnsons. Young Mrs. Johnson said this morning
that it would be a blessed relief if Mary Rose'd get the ol' lady out
every day. I guess there's a place for her here all right, whether ol'
Wells sees it or not."

"Wouldn't it be just as well for you to tell Brown an' Lawson your
story first?" asked Mrs. Donovan. "Of course, when it's a tenant
again' a janitor the janitor don't stand much show. But if you tell
the agents that your wife's niece, a girl goin' on fourteen, is staying
with you an' makin' herself useful to the tenants they won't come here
with a lot of confusin' questions when Mr. Wells has had his say.
Seems if it was the one who spoke first who gets the mos' attention.
Haven't you any errand that could take you down there the first thing
in the mornin'?"

Larry laughed scornfully. "I have that. I can al'ys find a complaint
to carry if I'm so minded. I guess you're right an' it won't do no
harm to get our side in first. Where's Mary Rose now?"

"She's gone over to Mr. Jerry's. The cat's board's overdue."
Evidently Aunt Kate thought that overdue board was a laughing matter
for she chu