The Arkansaw traveler., 1884-04-26

d lucky, might receive as much as fifteen. Nay, as years went cn, il was within the grasp of possibility that she should even become forewoman, in which case she was sure of some five and twenty shil- lings week, and, unless her health broke down. might very well keep out of the .sosk- house . 2 to,erahly advanced age. She might marry, of course. and as a very gentle aad sweet.faced girl, had perhaps fair chance of doing so; but iha: was something quite beyond the sphere of her hopes as yet. At present all she thought oi was the oppor- tunity of earning her weekly eight shil- lings by honest work. and living on Il, well. as the others did and she knew no other signihea,ion of the word living" Unfortunately. the proverb about the will and the way did not seem to apply to her case. It was no iaul; of her own that she had lost her work some weeks ago. The season had been bad one the powers and principali.ies who rule in such matters had deerecd that it should be fashionable to wear feathers, and for flowers there was proportionately little demand. Hence trouble in the work rooms here in Hoxton, where mos, of the flower makers live. The employer for whom she worked was good man; he held out as long as he could and when the girls came with pinchet. and eager faces begging him to find them something 10 Go, he had even produced work for which there was really no demand. and in mercantile phrase. had gone to the city and slaughtered , Il, just for the girls sake. But Al length he had to shake his head q, every appeal, and with an irony which he no doubt felt but did not mean, bid them take cour- age till the new season began. when per- haps things would be better.
 1 Well, phfrbe was still alive It would be hard 10 give an account, though, oi how she had kept body and soul together Tn the meantime. When in work, she had paid three shillings week for her room subsequently she had managed 10 i Ind this one, for which she only had to pay half-a-crown. And nice room 1t was. IL was 4 gar!et at the far end of a court; which court you reached by pass ing under foul archway. out of filthy bys,reet. Needless to say that .he floor had no covering. or that the wall was bare plaster, or that the rleke,y windows lacked blinds and curtain would. rather. l have lacked the latter, had rot Phoebe pinned across the lower half poor little shawl, which might better have been on her own shoulders. There was bed mercy, how cold when you crept into ii, and how thin the covering when you wake shlverng in the night There was q char, table, basin or the floor in the corncr, also actually cupboard, made in a recess, wherein should have hung Phaoe's second dress. but tha, was rep resented d; presen; by lii,le yellow card Tn her pocket. We'll. it was home - after all. and hitherto the rent for t had been paid regularly. 4 little needlewoTk little cleaning ot doors;cps. some ran- mug oi errands, islnding of children now and then. helping people in the court to wash and prepare their vegetables for sale in the streets heaven knows how the sum was made up every week; ye, hitherto II had been. But tonight Mrs. Dabbs had waited in vain for ph,rbe's wonted appearance down in the kitchen. and at length had come up 10 the garre, herself, in quest of her dues. Alas they were not forthcoming. Mrs. Dabbs was not a hard woman: what woman could have met that pale, patient, childish face, and insisted harshly till il was dewed with tears: IL was the ,irs. instance of remissness, so Mrs. Dabbs said she woaldn't press, and then sat down and talked in quite friendly way, principally of Mir. Guy.
 You couldn't have spent many minutes Tn this room without wanting to know who NIT. Quy was. Whether the gentle man so called was impressed with the strangeness of his name to such degree that il haunted him and compelled him to write i, in very legible characters when ever writing materials and plain surface were at hand, or whether his pride in its abnormali;y brought about the same con sequences, cannot now be determined :: the fact remains iha, this brief and sin gular appella,ion stared at you from ev- cry part of the plaster around the room. and was even written Tn places on the floor nay, veiily upon the ceiling. where 3 complete circle of" Guys" in charcoal marked the spo; whence an ambitions lodger might pcrchance have desired 10 see chandelier depend. Who Mir. Ouy was Phoebe knew already we'll enough on her hrst arrival, Mrs. Dab6s had lost no time in relating to her all that was known of his history. He had been the tenant of the garrett immediately beiore fhr5e, his tenancy having stretched over space of well-nigh three years. He was an old gentleman. Mrs. Dabbs said. who had known once what Il was to ride in his carriage and presumably through the loss ot this luxury al the time oi life when he mos, needed il, had grown "quccr-iike in IS cad" He was always very poor. shockingly poor, yet. as Mrs. Dabhs recorded with apprec!a,ive empha- SIS, had always managed to pay his rent, even If he went without food to do It. He went GU; every day. and stayed out all day long. get,in his lvin' promis- enous." clearer details than this or the subject of NIT. Quy's pursuits were not to be obtained, al all events not from Mrs. Dabbs. and probably she told all she knew. His eud was tragieal. His non- appearance one night had caused good