g, so that for many months she was confined to her
bed, and was unable to walk for more than a year. Then, as if the poor
girl were destined to trouble, she must needs fall in love, and with a
bad, good-for-nothing fellow. La Mamma would not consent, and we all
begged and prayed her not to have him, but Fausta was obstinate, and
married him. _Poverina!_ she has had one trouble after another, and will
have to the end.

As soon as I had passed my fourteenth birthday I was apprenticed to
Madama. Flavia was one of her best workwomen then, as she has been ever
since. After the first six months I received twenty centimes a day, and
at the end of the first year thirty centimes. We went away from home
every morning at seven o'clock. La Mamma gave us a good breakfast of
black bread and coffee before we set out, and black bread and onions or
apples for our dinner. Sometimes, instead of onions or apples, she would
give us ten or fifteen centimes; and that we liked better, because then
we could make a bank. Making a bank we called it when we put all our
money together. Madama had then twenty-five apprentices, and at
dinner-time we used to put all our money together and send out and buy
something. One would buy anchovies, another ham, another olives, another
cheese, and so on. There was one apprentice who always did the marketing
for us. Then we used to clear the work-table and set out our food, and
dine merrily enough. I was an apprentice at Madama's for five years, and
then began to work for myself. If Madama had been willing to pay me a
franc a day and give me my dinner besides, I dare say that I might have
been there now; but she would not, and so I plucked up my courage and
tried my hand alone. For some time before I left her I had been working
so well, at cutting out and fitting, finishing, and so on, that she used
to give me all the finest and most difficult work to do; but still she
never did and never would pay me more than eighty centimes [sixteen
cents] a day. None of us got more than that. What we always liked to do
was to carry the dresses home, because then the ladies usually gave us
something. And at Christmas, when we went to wish our patrons all
happiness, we got very nice presents. One Christmas we received thirty
francs. When we carried dresses home we generally got twenty or thirty
centimes. That made fifteen centimes for each of us, because we always
did errands in couples. One night at ten o'clock we had to go q