The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1909-12-11
BY ERNEST POOLE.

This brief story was told by a doc
tor who works In tenement section
Of the city OF New York. 1t il no
bright Christmas story--the bells ring
out bur once. It's only interest for
Christmas day h the interest 1t would
have for Christ.
It's common enoughlthe doctor be-
gan-and I'll give you all I can re-
member. The trouble is that I'm no
writer, and I've seen 30 many cases
more or less like 1t, that good many
details have slipped by mind. I'll
give all can.
Last year, on Christmas Eve-late,
about IL O'Clock a girl came into
my office as / was closing up. She
was young, slim, worn. her face so
white that / took Il for granted she
was q patient. But she settled that
with a quick nervous laugh. She had
q young sister really sick"-so sick
that she wanted me to ccme at once.
She could barely wait to get started.
They lived In a cheap furnished
room-F'ourth floor back-with two
windows looking into a court. I wish
could give you the room as it was.
You might fill that in from what you
know. Make II vivid. You can do that
Of course, and still make 1t true, The
point to be shown is this. The room
was a desperate try at home. Bare
enoughLbut clean. Furniture cheap
and ugly-the landIady's taste. But
the small things different, quite dif-
ferent, and so arranged as to cover the
ugliness. Some OF the ugliness. On
the whole 1t failed. And the small
woman touches made the attempt the
more painful.
On the double bed lay the young
sister. She was is but looked three
years younger-small, thin and weak
la child. Her shoes were off and some
of her clothes. She lay on her back,
her hands opening and then clinching,
her face twitching hard, her wide
open eyes staring UP at the ceiling.
When tried to ask questions, her
only reply was a. short shaking laugh.
/ I turned to the elder sister, who was
is. And she gave me the details of
the case. While she talked she sat
now stiff on a chair, then rose and
moved about nervously. Bue her
voice was quiet enough. She had her
self well in hand Only wish / could
put it all in her words, and in full for
she made it real, wildly real Her
story was plain and TO the point. 1t
ran about like this.
Their mother had died long ago.
They had lived with their father, a
clerk. He had died two years back,
and since then this room had been
their home
Each had worked since the legal
age of Ia. One four years. the other
two. They were in the same store.
The older girl sold children's toys, The
younger wrapped up parcels. Six and
81 a week made their wages.
This money paid for rent, food nd
clothes. Room, So a week! breakfast
for two, 6 centsI lunch for two, 20
cents! supper for two, "a cents on an
average. Breakfast, coffee, was cook
ed over the gas. The other two. meals
were bought in lunch rooms. The
total for meals was $4.20 a week. Ad-
ding the rent made 1920. Carfare,
when it rained, added 80 cents more,
and made the average, $3.50. OF the
$3.50 left, each girl spent ST. a week
on laundry, clothes and amuse-
saved. In two years they had saved
not quite S50--a brief illness having
wiped out $11.40. They were saving
to live in regular home.'
The scheme for home grew out of
the girls club they belonged to. 1t
met one night week. In this club
they had joined with six other girls
in plan to save up and, rent two
small tenement flats--hats adjoining
and so make "a regular home. .
Forty-eight dollars saved. They
needed SIS. @
4 The Christmas season had come on.
For the last six weeks they had work
ed overttme-with supper. money" At
first only two nights week till 10
o'clock. Then three nights-and in
the last stretch six nights a week till
IL O'clock. One girl sold toys, the
I other wrapped 'em up. The pace was
fast and never let up.
as that package Of mine never com
ing? Can't you hurry it up?''
The girl who wrapped 'em grew sick.
mot really sick" but enough to make
both sisters nervous. Three nights
ago, it grew bad enough so that on
the way home at IL D. m. "she
couldn't walk quite straight" Her
sister had TO help her. ~
They had faced the thing that night
faced the thing till 2 a. m. The OBJ
lection to her quitting work was this.
Last winter New York had 100000 out
OF work. If she threw up her Job she
might not get 1t back. II she didn't
goodbye to that regular home.s They
found a. way out. The name of the
way I needn't give. It was che Of the
worst of the patent nerve tonics. And
the thing worked az first like charm.
She hardly needed meals even--and
before Christmas.
Something began to happen in
SIDE" that afternoon. It happened
more each hour. BY o'clock at night
it was bad enough for her to lean
down from her wrappers perch and
tell her sister to keep one eye on her
lin case anything queer should take
place.
TIL queer thing took place about 10
1 o'clock. An ambulance had teen SUM
moned. And that was about all that
the older girl could tell me-except
that her sister had been like this as
soon as they reached the room. 1t
had scared her and she had come to
me. BY now, 1t was near IL O'Clock.
A writer like Dickens suppose, at
| this stage In the game would have
gone to the window, stared silently
out at tine city with eyes that saw into
a million homes into natRt1n80A acenna