She stopped.
"Ruth," she said in her staccato voice, "I envy you."
The young mother experienced a swift revulsion of feeling. A profound sympathy stirred her for this ungainly fellow-creature, the slave of circumstances, for whom the door of what Ruth now knew to be Eternity was little likely ever to open, unless forced.
Her instinct told her truly that she could best succour the other in her distress by herself seeking aid.
"See, I got the chance to marry, Miss," she began with beautiful awkwardness. "I don't rightly knaw what to be at."
The other's eyes became shrewd and critical.
"D'you like the man?" she asked harshly.
"We fits in pretty fair like," Ruth made answer without enthusiasm.
"Is he fond of the child?" continued the inquisitor.
"O, aye. He fairly dotes on her."