"I suppose we mustn't go near any children," said Marian as they started off, "for we might give them the whooping-cough."
"I'm sure I don't want to go near any," replied Patty independently. "See, the road we are going to take leads right past the chapel and down that hill."
"What are those chimneys sticking up there at the foot of the hill, where all that smoke is coming out?"
"They are the chimneys of the factories."
"What kind of factories?"
"Oh, some kind. I don't know. We can ask when we get home if you would like to know." She hurried Marian past the big factory buildings from which issued the clattering noise of machinery, and from whose chimneys black smoke was pouring. At the foot of the hill there was a little bridge spanning a rapid stream. Further up, the stream was bordered by willows, and a meadow beyond seemed an inviting playground. "Let's go up there," said Marian; "it looks so pleasant."
"We might fish if we had a hook and line," said Patty, bent on some new diversion.
"Oh, do you suppose there are any fish so near the factory?"
"There might be," returned Patty, "but as we haven't anything to catch them with they are perfectly safe."
Marian laughed, then added, "I think I am glad they are, for I don't believe it would make me very happy to see the poor things struggling and gasping."