Martha By-the-Day

r, in a late November storm, stimulating-you may, that is, provided you have a reliable driver. If, contrariwise, you happen to be of

il, being a stranger and not very big, she had become so bewildered that she lost her head completely, and, with the blind impulse of a hen with paresis, darted straight out, in

g like the firm iron grip of a steam-derrick had fastened on her person, hoisted

ted girls in New York City. She groped about in her mind for the formula to be applied in such cases, as recommended by Aunt Amelia. "Sir, you are no gentleman! If you were a gentleman, you would not offer an affront to a young, defenseless girl who-" The rest elu

rip, being a-woman. A woman of masculine proportions, towering, deep-chested, large-limbed, but with a face which belied all these, for in it her sex shone forth in a motherliness

g down serenely into Claire's little w

bus Av

the glistening, wet way, as if s

rs!" Again that derrick-grip, and they stood in the heart of

tively. "I've been waiting for ages. T

orman vehemently shut off his power, and put on his brake. By some hidden, mysterious force that was

ep, pausing herself, before she should mount

e conductor urged insistently,

ung man. I been steppin' lively all day, an' for so long's it's goin' to take this car to

s," he declared, while with an authoritative finger he i

t fall with a tolerant smile, while she diligen

the doorway

right along in, and sit down anywheres, an' if there ain't nowheres to sit, why, just take a waltz-step or two in the direction o' some of them

girl did n

ch of asperity in the conductor's tone.

her eyes. She hesitated, swallowed hard, a

glove. It must have slipp

opping the car to put her off, but before he could carry out his purp

fair, young man, for the sake of your mother who didn't learn you better manners when you was a boy!" With which she laid

planted herself like a great bulwark between her and the world, shutting her off, walling her 'round. Then, suddenly, she found herself placed in a hurried

t-the money, you kno

ng like that. Such accidents is liable to occur in th

ed the uncertain voice

, so I can't pay

reat her companion compressed her bulky frame into it with a sigh, as of well-earned rest, and remarked comfortably, "N

hotly. "No, I don't," she confesse

der this for a moment, then q

n' four children, to say nothing of a mother-in-law who lives with us, an' keeps an eye on things while me an' Sammy (that's Mr. Slawso

rom," with a wistful, faint little attempt at a smile. "My father was judge of the Supreme

to make your everlas

But I'm not discouraged. I don't mean to give up. Things look pretty dark just now, but I'm not going to l

t I was goin' to say is, that bein' a mother myself an' havin' children of my own to look out for, I couldn't recommend any lady, let alone one so young an' pretty as you, to take up with strangers, here in New York City, be they male or be they female. No, certaintly not! But in this case, you can take it from me, I'm O.K. I can give the highest references. I worked for the best fam'lies in this town, ever since I was a child. You needn't be a mite afraid. I'm just a plain mother of a fam'ly an', believe me, you can trust me as you would trust one of your own r

nce of a young girl coming to a strange city, without influence, friends, or money, expec

I don't know how-much-a-week, in commissions. Something queer must be the matter with me, I guess, for I never got rid of a single lot, though I walked my feet off. I've tried writing ads., and I've directed envelopes. I've read the Wants columns, till it seems as if everybody in the world was looking for a job. But I can't get anything to do. I guess God doesn't mean me to die of starvation, for you wouldn't believe how little I've had to eat all summer and fall, and yet I'm almost a

e labored flow with a h

r boardin'-house is?"

est-Two-hundred-and-ei

we're only three b

f propelled as by the hand of fate through the crowd toward th

' in Ninety-fifth Street-West-Two-hunderd-an'-eighty-five-an'-a-half. Come along. 'S