The request was so unexpected that for a moment I was dumb. On recovering myself I reminded them that our country was at war. So long as the war lasted we at home must keep our shoulder to the wheel. If the wheel cut into our flesh we must endure it for the sake of pushing the load to safety.
“And after the war?” the spokesman asked.
“After the war organize. Then, if you prove your consistency by refusing to take tips, the public will help you get a decent wage,” I replied. And I still believe that I spoke the truth.
CHAPTER VI
GOOD HUNTING-GROUND
On my return after this experience Mrs. Wilkins said that I had lost twenty pounds, while Alice candidly assured me that I could not look worse had I been buried and dug up. Such backhanded compliments did not encourage me to take either of them into my confidence. And, though Alice remarked on the length of time it had taken me to get to New York, it did not seem necessary for me to mention having stopped off at a station in Pennsylvania long enough to be interviewed by the housekeeper of Sutton House. Neither did I feel called on to confide that the housekeeper had engaged me to take the position to be left vacant, three weeks hence, by Mary’s cousin.
Having returned to New York six dollars poorer than I quitted it, the necessity of paying in advance for my room and my food left me no time to loaf. Though experience had taught me that Tuesday is the least desirable day in the week to hunt a job I determined to take my chances in spite of Mrs. Wilkins and Alice urging me to remain in bed and rest. Both offered to loan me money.
The most promising advertisement in the help-wanted columns that morning was that of a biscuit factory on Long Island—women and girls at seven dollars a week. The advertisement stated that only one car-fare was needed from Manhattan—such an important detail that it might be called an inducement.
Begrudging this sixty cents a week I debated with myself the wisdom of following the advice of Alice and the hat-trimmer—waiting until later in the week. My antipathy to borrowing money of my friends finally outweighed my unwillingness to pay car-fare, and I set out. Though I reached the biscuit factory a half-hour before the doors opened, there were seven women ahead of me. Fifty-one came later.
After Sea Foam, I enjoyed standing in the open air and chatting with the women and girls. It was a balmy spring morning, and a sheen of soft green covered the trees and fields. My fellow applicants were all comfortably dressed and appeared to be cheerful. There was no pushing and crowding for place near the entrance.
When finally the doors were opened we filed in smiling and in order. The bare little employment office was spotlessly clean, and there were plenty of seats.