Whatever Ellen or any of her children might be guilty of, within
twenty-four hours Mrs. O'Brien would be sure to find them blameless and
even praiseworthy.

Rosie was glad to see that George Riley, in spite of his infatuation,
was not entirely taken in. He smiled to himself a little grimly. "So
she's lost her job already, has she?"

Mrs. O'Brien demurred: "'Tain't quite fair to the poor girl to say she
lost her job. What Ellen done was this: she resigned her position."

George glanced at Rosie and she, to make sure he understood, wrinkled
her nose and shook her head. "I'll tell you about it sometime," she
remarked carelessly.

"She's off shopping this morning," Mrs. O'Brien continued. "I told her
not to go back to them offices for a couple of days. She needs a little
rest and once she gets a good steady job goodness knows when she'll ever
again have a moment to herself. So I'm wanting her to get her shopping
done while she can."

"You see, Jarge," Rosie explained; "she needs a lot of new clothes and
now that she's making money she can buy them herself. She's going to get
a new hat, too. She doesn't like that last new hat." Rosie tried to use
a tone that would sound guileless to her mother and yet tell George all
there was to tell.

With her mother at least she was successful. "You must remember," Mrs.
O'Brien went on, "a girl in her position has got to dress mighty well or
they'll be taking advantage of her. So I says to her, 'Now, Ellen dear,
just get yourself a nice new hat and anything else you need. Don't mind
any board money this week.' You know, Jarge, she's going to begin paying
three dollars a week regular. Don't you call that pretty fine for a poor
girl who is just starting out in life? You mustn't forget, Jarge, that
all you pay yourself is five dollars a week."

"Yes, but the difference is he really pays it!" Rosie could not resist
stating this fact even at risk of hurting her mother's feelings.

The risk was a safe one. Mrs. O'Brien only smiled blandly. "'Tis no
difference at all, Rosie dear. Come next week, Ellen'll be really paying
it, too. She gave me her word she would."

A mother's faith in her offspring is touching and very beautiful. It is
even more: it is as it should be. Nevertheless it is usually wearisome
to outsiders. In this case, Rosie's point of view was that of an
outsider. She stood her mother's eulogy of Ellen as long as she could
and then, to avoid an outburst, she fled. She vent