"Won't you come with me to-day? We'll talk with Mrs. Harris, the head worker, and she'll tell you all about it."
"Well—I don't know—" looking at her plants. "I'd ought—"
"Oh, please come, Miss Doane. You haven't anything to do, have you?"
"I don't know as I have anything particular, though sence I got these babies, my days is as full as a wine cup. But if you want me—"
"That's right; I knew you would! Come right away—I must get to my class."
Drusilla wiped her hands on her apron and went into the house. Soon she was ready and they were being whirled swiftly toward the East Side, a part of New York that Drusilla had never visited. She was interested in the women as they sat upon the tenement steps, and in the many, many children playing in the streets. Spring was in the air, although it could hardly be recognized here except by the people loitering in the streets in order to get away from the crowded homes.
"What a lot of people!" said Drusilla. "Where do they all come from—and the children! I never saw so many children in my life."
"Oh, but you should see it in July and August," Daphne laughed. "Then it is crowded, and the people sleep on the fire-escapes and even on the sidewalks in some of the smaller streets. It is so hot in their stuffy rooms."
Soon they drew up before the door of the Settlement, and were received in the parlor by the head worker. Daphne left Drusilla, to go to her sewing-class, and Mrs. Harris conducted Drusilla over the Settlement. She was shown the kindergarten, the club rooms where the boys and girls of the neighborhood danced in the evening, the clinic, the public baths, and the play yard. Then she asked to be taken to see Daphne with her sewing-class, as she could not get over the idea that it was a joke of some kind for Daphne to teach sewing, knowing that the girl knew nothing about the work. They found Daphne absorbed in cutting out very full trousers and middy blouses by the aid of a paper pattern, while eight girls were basting and stitching them. Drusilla watched them for a while.
"Is this all the sewing-class you have?" she asked.