ong
whom they lived, they did not awaken prejudices by the assertion of
superiority. Indeed, it was seen that the two women had all they could
do to earn their livelihood, and they were left to do this in peace.

When Alida Armstrong--for that was her maiden name--carried her own and
her mother's work to and from the shops, she often encountered admiring
glances. She was not exactly pretty, but she had the good, refined face
which is often more attractive than the merely pretty one, and she
possessed a trim, rounded figure which she knew how to clothe with
taste from the simplest and most inexpensive materials. Nor did she
seek to dress above her station. When passing along the street, any
discerning person would recognize that she was a working girl; only the
superficial would look upon her as a common-place girl. There was
something in her modest air and graceful, elastic carriage which
suggested the thought to many observers, "She has seen better days."

The memory of these days, which had promised immunity from wearing
toil, anxiety, and poverty, was a barrier between the two women and
their present world. Death had bereft them of husband, father, and
such property as he had left had been lost in a bad investment.
Learning that they were almost penniless, they had patiently set about
earning honest bread. This they had succeeded in doing as long as the
mother kept her usual health. But the infirmities of age were creeping
upon her. One winter she took a heavy cold and was very ill. She
rallied only temporarily in the milder days of spring. In the summer's
heat her strength failed, and she died.

During her mother's long illness Alida was devotion itself. The strain
upon her was severe indeed, for she not only had to earn food for both,
but there were also doctor's bills, medicines, and delicacies to pay
for. The poor girl grew thin from work by day, watching by night, and
from fear and anxiety at all times. Their scanty savings were
exhausted; articles were sold from their rooms; the few precious
heirlooms of silver and china were disposed of; Alida even denied
herself the food she needed rather than ask for help or permit her
mother to want for anything which ministered to their vain hopes of
renewed health.

What she should have done she scarcely knew, had not an unexpected
friend interested himself in her behalf. In one of the men's clothing
stores was a cutter from whom she obtained work. Soon a