ny
other man for nothing at all, but they let on that their own men are
just angels. You know--the way I've always done about dad. But, since
today, seems like I don't care any more. And I've made up my mind to one
thing: he's going to hear the truth from me tomorrow morning if he kills
me for it."

"Janet!" Rosie did not relish at all the thought of being present at a
family conference of so private a nature.

"Yes, and you're going to hear it, too, Rosie. If we were alone, he
might pay attention or he might not. But with an outsider hearing things
he'll know quick enough that I mean business."

"Janet, I don't know how you can talk that way. He's your father, you
know."

Janet nodded grimly. "Yes, he's my father all right. You know it and I
know it, but he seems to have forgotten it. I'll remind him of it
tomorrow."

Rosie reached out a little timidly. "I don't like to interfere, Janet,
but it seems to me you're only making things harder for yourself. Don't
you know it makes you kind o' sick inside to let yourself get so mad at
any one?"

Janet sighed wearily. "Yes, I suppose it does, but I've been that way so
long I don't know how it feels to be any other way."

Presently Rosie said: "Tell me, Janet, has he always boozed like this?"

Janet shook her head. "No, not always. I can remember when things were
different. I was a pretty big kid, too. We had a little house like yours
and good furniture. You know he's a fine machinist and makes good money.
He used to make four dollars a day. He can always get work yet but he
don't keep it like he used to."

"And didn't he booze then, Janet?"

"Yes, a little but not very much. Ma says he'd come home full maybe once
a month and smash things around, but after that he'd sober up and be all
right for a long time. Oh, we were comfortable then and ma and me had
good clothes and if ma didn't feel very well she'd hire some one to do
the washing. I remember I had a pretty jumping rope and a big ball. It
wasn't more than five or six years ago. And look at us now!"

Rosie sighed sympathetically. "I wonder what it was that started him
that way?"

Janet was able to tell. "You know, Rosie, that's a funny thing. Miss
Harris from the Settlement was in here one day asking ma and I heard
what ma said. Dad fell and broke a leg and was laid up for a long time.
Then they found it hadn't been set right and they broke it over again.
So that kept him out of work ever so many more weeks