Little Miss By-The-Day

net was gaunt and wiry, the relict of the late Jock MacGregor, who had cared for Uncle Peter Alden's horses for a lifetime a

Whenever-which was frequent-there was an upheaval in the Alden's domestic arrangements, Janet filled in the gaps, spoke her mind freely to Mrs. Freddie, secure in the knowledge that

tabbing the bread-saw viciously into the defenseless loaf and muttering dark things as she assembled something she called "old doves" on a big Sheffield platter. Janet couldn't cook at all but she could arrange things as beautifully as her ancestors did-and they had been a race of public park gardeners! There wasn't anything she couldn't do with some parsley, a can of sardines and the cheese that was left from dinner. And then she would wai

married to her, that she had some spirit left even if she was a widow woman. And that she wasn't dependent on the Aldens nor anybody else. That she was going to quit service of any kind-day of week or month. She had a grand chance to open a window-cleaning emporium. She could get the ladders and harnesses and chamois scrubs for almost nothing from the widow of a boss cleaner who had cleaned a

gentlemen would be going and that she could air her grievances while Mr. Freddie smoked and chuckled at her grumbling. So that wh

and cuddled Felicia in her thin arms,

s that Miss' Freddie's tantrums brings the help to! Many a time have I masel' felt like givin' way the way this p

e group hovering on the stairway could see her tears. "It was just that-I was tired-that Uncle Peter's room was rather hot-that I liked t

ia's garb; exhausted as she was Felicia found herself whimsically wondering how she'd tell herself from Janet when it was time to get out. Felicia's tears had dissolved in little smot

of contentment from life-and Mr. Freddie is that prodigal with mon

ng-chess is only playing, its onl

ldn't listen intelligently, because her tired ears were still filled with the glorious harmonies of Dudley Hamilt's unfinished song. When she shut her eyes she could see his tall figure swinging up the stairs-she was trying to convince herself that she was really glad that he

when she opened the door, in ecstacy at Felicia's home coming. Dulci

et, you'll like Dulcie-" She had Babiche in her arms now, and was leaning wearily again

g curiously into

ught I saw them all movin' out-I heard the bui

o. But Janet had no intention of leaving. She had a woman's curiosity about a vacant house,

uch, so old and all but I know a body as might conseeder it." Impractical as th

h would

your

"She's just been thinking she might rent part o

here's her furnishings?

ers remained standing, their lean figures casting gro

irty filthy heathen came to live here. But now I'm home His Honor made them all go away. And as soon as I have earned enough money to pay the taxes and other thin

storage bills?" demanded

slangy syllables falling incisi

rniture we could open a rooming house. I've been thinking that myself while Miss Day was gone. I've experience you know, my beastly step

rms rested aki

e's a good bit o' money there for an able body. If the furnishings is what sh

what?" gas

' toward the matter o' what ma rent would be. Mind I'm no sayin' I would until I see the furnishings. I'm on'y conseederin

an easy pretense for she could glimpse the dark waters of the bay and the silent ships drifting on the tide. A spring fog seeped through the open windows and she was quite as miserable as she had been on that memorable trip. Beside her in her own cha

stump me! Janet MacGregor is an angel sent straight from heaven. If I ever get a commish' to sculpt an angel I sh

n is lovely again, if any one-ever-kisses-you out there and you love him-don't let any one take you away from him. Because it might be too long afterw

's heart. She reached out her hand and caught Felicia's and gripped it hard

reply of discovery, "I hadn't notice

unaccustomed couches but exuberant over the adventure. Almost before they

charge. She was a very different person from the hysterical

ough to satisfy even her unholy craving-and then if she still wants to go into the deal I can go to the storage place. I know I could arrange it because I d

anet agreed readily enough when she saw the massive furniture that she had ample security. Dulcie fairly browbeat the storage manager, and between the two of them they actually arranged for a small van load of furniture to be delivered at Montrose Place before dark. As for the rest of it, Dulcie had a wrist-watch, that for all we know is still reposi

emoiselle's old quarters. Dulcie knew she mustn't touch the shepherdesses there. Felice had told her about the battle royal with the sponge, but in the nursery-well, the crossy-eyed nephew couldn't work fast enough to suit Dulcie. She feverishl

ng of odors told their story for them. The freshness of the clean, scarcely-dried, kalsomine, the faint tinge of smoke from the bit of fire, the delicious soapy cleanliness and a wholesome whiff of barley broth floated out into the dusty hallway to the little person on the stairs. She looked through the doorway and

eached out her arms and sig

ome-it's re

ever wept over "wet mud" and wanted to die-die! Why, she couldn't live hard enough, the days seemed so short! She threw herself heart and soul into the fray; she grubbed in the bit of garden, she toiled upstairs and down with the clumsy paint brushes. Whenever she lacked for pence she strode forth to the art school where s

lf. In the long hours while she sat sewing she fought out her little battle-the bat

he appalling sum that she owed. She could only work on blindly from day to day, hoping, hoping against hope that she would find the Portia Person. She never gave that up. Long hours after her day's

y hadn't been fair to her, to let her grow up so ignorant of life, so ignorant of the ways to earn a living. But g

s only when I work that I learn-Work! that's the thing to learn with-it's like the 'Binnage'-the

iked to clean-and so she did it beautifully, did it superlatively, whereas when Dulcie or

red that to like to do anything y

hips in the harbor. "Think how gay the sailors are. I remember one who whistled while he cleaned the deck-he did it very quickly, much more quickly

vigorously sweep

the way that she does

's because it's Janet

t instead of just a br

make my needle m

er morning when Felice went away she would encourage her. She would assure her that when she came back at night she would hear Dulcie calling "It's begun." But alas, it never was-it was only by keeping madly, tempestuously busy at other things that Dulcie endured the nag of some of

ring one of those solemn conclaves with the young lawyer whom Justice Harlow had assigned to the case. He was a frankly gloomy lawyer. He was sure they were wasting time and money and energy in their attempt to make the house habitable-he didn't believe it was possible, he didn't think that even another thirty days extension of ti

med him bluntly that she didn't think he was anything much of a lawyer. He reto

be livin'? You

he on further urging named his room rent. And Janet came b

my little lady why are ye no l

d alcove holding a stately bed, with wide windows overlooking the bay and a low squatty chair beside the fireplace. While he was looking Dulcie tripped down the stairs and winked solemnly at Janet. And she too assailed him. He hadn't an argument left when the two of them were through with him. He felt like a h

to the nursery and tapping meekly on th

ight with-the reward of

room. "You see Grandy's father was a Judge and he knew Louisa's uncle-It was Louisa's uncle who used to live in this house and both those men used to sit in this room and talk and talk and talk-Mademoiselle told me about it. You shall have Grandy's father's picture over the fireplac

t he apologized profusely to his friend

on was Dulcie. He was so busy hating her, thinking up things to say back when she let her saucy, slangy phrases loose at him that he didn't know how easily he was lea

w? Would it mind lifting a la

in the niche outside his door. Their purchase had driven Janet almost to drink. She plainly told Felice they'd all end

S AND SCULPTORS:

thed, grinning, "

ng him "The Rumor," not even when she added,

ely called to mind a chance acquaintance in the Street Cleaning dep

solate six houses across the way; but he could and did do wonders to gutters and sidewalks. The hordes that ha

denuded stumps of the trees of heaven and the back yard became a shaded retreat. Sometimes at twilight when Felice came home, it seemed to her that the long ago look of the street was cree

s. The two women would sit in the back yard on the old iron benches, which Janet had found in the depths of the coal bin. The lawyer would walk grandly about, and chuckle and chuckle while Felicia pretended she was a very fat customer who was always going to begin dieting after "

with the telephone the lawyer had put in the hall,

m through an imaginary casement, "Oh weel-oh w

the hi

tak the

in Scotlan

true luv sh

-summat is drapping-Th' De

bonnie banks o

e men forgetting their pipes, the women sniffling as women do when they hear old ballads, for of course once Felice had started "preten

he gl

y dar

t bitter

n Dudley Hamilt came no more-!) Sunday afternoons with the Wheezy's gentle old fellow sufferers, almost all the other evenings in the garden. She was using ou

ous shabbiness. She was pale and wan, even paler than when she had first come to him but the timidity, the uncertainty, had gone. Her eyes were deeper. They shone like jewels; the softened outlines of her profile were thinner, clearer; her beautiful mouth had grown firm and a bit

?" asked the Justice all uncon

d-she treated them all as though they were contemporary-"I think Heloise might know what to do. One of the things Abelar

aupers! Think you how Janet raged the day she brought

as stationed in an upstairs window that let one look down two streets, and at the other window in

thin figure who walked uncertainly up and down the street,

. Miller, "she does look sick. It's a tooth, too, see how s

could really see such an ENORMOUS pain as the one that w

time it made her head seem big and her feet very far away. Sometimes she could walk but she wanted to scream, sometimes she felt like a volcano, a Vesuvius of shooting

nd give a false address for the bill to be sent or whether she'd better announce she hadn't any wa

just flopped down outside the house wher

at all her usual self when she opened her eyes. She was in an

nder her eyes accused them all. Her thin hand tried to pat her rumpled hair, "I do believe you've lost another hairpin for me-I'd

underwear or I can't do general housework-I'm only-a

e went but she didn't want any one to take her there. The dentist agreed with her. He took Felicia aside and told her it was his private opinion that the girl was either drunk or on the verge of a nervous breakdown and he thought the best thing to do would be to

e in her pocket, fold

not to let her go

aid the dentist, "I tell

to-morrow for the sewing. As soon as I get her in bed and

forgotten to ask the dentist for money. To make bad matters worse a heavy down pour of rain overtook them a go

went into that dentist's I did such a fool thing. I bought some patent liniment and put on my tooth and I didn't notice u

dry clothes and tea anyhow, t

s immaculate bed in Janet's atrocious dressing gown. Her clothes she unceremoniou

mily miserable; she felt like the day-all tears and smiles both. She dropped the outer garments to floor and pulled her shoes and stockings off. Babiche sat up and begged

n reaching for the cracker box that she lifted her voice a bit. Dulcie, outside the

ar old. She reached for her dress

behind her, leaned against the panels

How could I have been so stupid not to have seen you before! Oh, please dr

her soft, breathless laug

-I got them all from Louisa, Margot says-and my hands-" she stretched one out-"They're Grandmother Trenton's-and I think I have nice ears-but the rest of me-"

e-I-look here," she lied casually, "I didn't tell you but I've managed a bit of money-I

mered. "I didn't thin

ow cou

all be back in the gutter you know-So that's settled-to-morrow morning at nine-I'll ha

ce but her eyes were sparkling. She no longer saw Fe

her own room she drew a long breath and pottered about

he dusty case. She stared unbelievingly at a quaint mahogany box, warily priced two or three other things and finally asked "how much for the damaged writing case?" Ten minutes l

hes-it's the same Bee she has said was on t

a introduced the two girls with the affable hope they'd be nice neighbors. "Blythe's coming to have the front room next as soon as Cross Eyes can pink-wash it-" Her eyes glimps

in it, m'loidy? With the missing wil

r delicious excursions into slang, "it was just for

the box when Janet b

ad left, she settled he

due for it. For natura

iss Modder to come

paying?" dem

e's sculpting. So I made a bargain with her that she'd not pay her rent just now, that she'll pay later. She's to pay some girl's rent for as long as she stays

red to enter into a similar agreement. Janet couldn't get any

uit bringing home losers, Miss Day. You ought to p

irabile dictu, kept her

eally approved of only that one. But that one, as she gru

Irish Roman Catolic." But just to look at Molly O'Reilly was to know you'd love her. Fat, oh, ridiculously fat, in comparison with the rest of that skinny household-

o work in; but a laundry, a steamy, soapy, wet-woolens-smelling laundry is not a comfortable place to sew. By noon Felice wanted to indulge in one of Dulcie's weeps-

white person who was laboriously darning thin net, "something to think on save work." She stole a keen glanc

dn't been made from crumbs that fell from the rich man's feast. Yet so cunningly had she warmed it, so deftly had she flavored it, so daintily had she garnished it that it seemed food ambrosial. Felicia let her fork slide into delectab

is delight sat easily against

ng them ate. You'd think I'd be contint-the wages is so gr'rand, but honest, Susy, I was happier doing gineral housework for b

r I can find a partner. I'm going to open one of these stylish tea room

an's room and on up to the old nursery? Can't you see Felicia triumphantly bringing Mollyhome to look it over? And can't you almost hear the lovely Irish s

o them. You remember it was only one flight up. He was a young architect well able to climb but Mrs. Architect couldn't. And he was a very new architect. Felice said staunchly that she wouldn't think of having an old fat successful architect around, that he'd be bored with all the small jobs the house needed, but this obligin

unanswerable argument about all these persons who flocked to the house in Montrose Place-they were so lovab

ve their genius. Though Felice could never see it that way. Long after the rest

so carefully- why can't the stupid old world see it! But it doesn't. It just tramples and chokes and freezes them until it's a wonder they evaire do blossom at all. And di-rectly they do-the world's surprised-huh- I should think it would be! It's not fair. It's all wrong. When I find the Portia Person I shall do something, I s

ous grin one day as he listened to a drawling young- sounding voice over the telephone

ew bonnet-I have. I really look like anybody else now. I

ess she gave him and saw a nurse bringing the palefaced Painter Boy out

's only his spirit that's rather drowned, so I th

rooms or beds for any more! But the house hummed with their activities, rang with their arguments and theories, echoed with

Molly "slipped 'em somethin'" that she claimed was left from her catering business, but usually they ate only what their pooled funds could pay for and leaned back content to listen while Felice "pretended" or scolded or encouraged them; her leadership was utterly unconscious, her calm assumption that she was a very old lady hypnotized them into thinking she was. She made no rules or regulations. She frankly let them know that perhaps they could

ike you to b

e truly hap

yone else

ty-two, twenty-three, oh, it seemed as though they surely must find the Portia Person now that they w

learn to "like to be a by-the-day

ered from a feverish complaint known as Maid's- Day-Out. Thursdays always seemed to be associated with worse and more hurried luncheons than other days-

ating, gloomy kind of a rain that brought her into the Woman's Exchange exceedingly moist, and seeme

cross old woman sliding a card with the ad

orate plate-glass entrance. It was Felice's first apartment house experience. She walked with humble awe through

in green-and-gilt livery eyed her

ou just came in and go around to the side where I tells you and go in there and you tell Joe I sent you. If he hain't to

ent Senegambian! He confessed afterward she looked so like somebody's high-toned ghost that it had sent the shivers down his spine. And just

she was such a hi

th new insolence, this time from a frowsy maid who led her grudgingly into the living-room that st

e'd send some one at eight o'clock-but c

es, in the midst of a tremendous heap of broken toys and fought desperately for the possession of an eyeless, hairless carcass of a doll. A sewing machine piled high with garments was in front of the one broad wind

wish you would run up the seams of those on the machine-french-seam

r plump employer, and spoke the first wo

do not understand. The Exchange should have told you that I am a needl

ed the kimonoed one, "why anybody with a

d her wide in

anything of the kind. It's the maid's day out and I have to go to a matinee and I'd counted on you to watch the children-" she shook her head in exasperat

for that matter, and it's very hard to keep the garden of a day in order when strange unexpected things spring up in it. She took off her hat a

The frowsy maid pulled the covers untidily over the two little beds and half-heartedly picked up a few of the toys and dumped them in a closet. Felicia's delicate fingers g

her to take such small stitches-I wish you'

etween the sewing machine and the uneven metal footboard of a chil

ll-a-blanchisseuse-I have never held a flat-iron-" she was smiling because she was th

appalling ignorance. She again patiently explained that

. "I know only embroidery and mending and knitting and

lped to fasten the pressed frock around a stiffly corseted person, breathed a patient "yes" to numerous instructions about the children's lunch. She sighed with

less. The children ate the lunches that Felicia found in the half tidied kitchen. The little woman herself carried a plate of not unappetising scraps into the ornate mahogany dining-room, rummaged for a kni

precious early morning sleep. By four o'clock things had become unendurable: She viewed her squabbling charges with scorn. They behaved no be

e, walked with a determination toward the wee contestants in a never ending fight and put her hand o

olly. "I do not think it is possible for

little seamstress' command that was unlike anything they had ever heard. They followed Felicia meekly enough. They walked quietly

"won't do. It's Faddo's ONE CORNER

ked toys into an orderly heap. They helped her fold the heaps of mended and unmended garments. And when it was done she sat down on the floor on her knees as she had knelt so many times in her garden and smiled at them. She drew a long breath. You must remember that she had never known a child except that strange child: herself. She could only treat them as she had treated the lost flowers i

worried and you think 'This isn't pleasant.' Maybe you play a little on your

have a little lute to make music for you." She sunk back on a hassock and held her arms in posi

ing any words while I'm whistling so I shall have to tell you the story before I make the song-the first li

ere singing "sur le pont d'Avignon." A door swung open and a grizzled man i

d the older one casuall

lau

shouldn't I be allowe

ay, nodded. He sat down on the edge of the larger bed and if Felicia was aware of him after that she didn't let him know it. Precio

a nice fat, comfortable woman who lives in the little house in the woods right beside my big house in the woods-tells me. I'll whistle the gay tune about the girl who is going to write the letter until you can sing it with a tra-la-la-la so-and then while you m

The wide-eyed children watched her, humming as she motioned. The tired man on the edge of the bed watched her, humming unconsciously as the little song sang itself into his eager ears. Higher and sweeter and fast

d known the song when he was a boy, was already laughing at Margot's version. But when Felicia came to "Pour l'amour de Dieu" and merrily cried out "For the love of Mike" he caug

elice, "how de-lici

doorway plump and puffing, her finery bundled clumsily under her coat. She wasn't very pretty. It didn't seem as if she'd ever been young, and it

now how to use the flat-iron! You were much too fine to do the work you came to do! But the minute my back is turned you si

's voice and the frightened wail of the littlest girl, rose the cry of Felicia's own anger. Did I say her em

deep contralto seemed to penetrate everywhere. All the petty insults that she had endured through

day long I've been wondering what I could pretend you were like. First I pretended you were a big coarse zinnia. I don't like zinnias at all but some people do-they are gay a

loser to her husband and shook his arm a little.

op!" the woman screame

her s

himself

re speaking to a naughty child. "You must be out of your wi

! She's exactly like the Black Blight-that horrid black thing that makes the green leaves droop and the gay little flow

the man comma

olly folde

d woman, "something I think-she will like to hear about-" a cooing sweetness crept into Felicia's tones, the naive earnestness, the gentle candor of her appeal, silenced both the man and the woman. "She will like to hear about the way to be a mother. I know exactly the way-it's like this- it isn't a bit like the way you do it-" her clear eyes looked straight into those of the awed person before her. "The way you do it is not at all pretty-not at all amusing-you shout and scold and fret and 'don't-don't don't'-all the time! That's not the way to be a mother!" Felicia's eyes grew tender

Felicia, you look as though you'd be

e put his hands on her heaving shoul

nded sharply, "tell me

azed, still drifting happily on th

e been looking everywhere to find you. You're my Portia