“Yes,” she answered in a faint voice; her shoulder was against the wall now for support.
She was ready for the blow; all her life they had come this way.
“Sold your twenty at ten. Mail you check for $190 on receipt of certificate.”
Abbie clutched her bosom as if for relief, but there came no answering throb. The little devil was gone, and the lamp with him.
“And is it all over, Abbie?” asked her mother, as she drew her shawl closer about her head. One stick of wood must last them till bedtime now.
“Yes—all.” The girl lay crouched at her feet sobbing, her head in her mother's lap.
“Can you pay Hiram?”
“I have paid him in full. I gave him Mr. Keep's check and ten dollars of my pay—paid him this morning. He wouldn't take any interest.”
“Oh, that's good—that's good, child!” she crooned.
There came a long pause, during which the two women sat motionless, the mother looking into the smouldering coals. She had but few tears left none for disappointments like these.