"No father, no mother!"
"No."
"You're like me, but I've got a grandmother who's very good, and she'd be still better if it wasn't for my uncles and aunts; she has to please them. If it wasn't for them I should not have to work in the factories; I should stay at home and help in the store, but grandmother can't do as she wants always. So you're all alone?"
"Yes, all alone."
"Was it your own idea to leave Paris and come to Maraucourt?"
"I was told that I might find work at Maraucourt, so instead of going further on to some relations, I stopped here. If you don't know your relations, and they don't know you, you're not sure if you're going to get a welcome."
"That's true. If there are kind ones, there are some mighty unkind ones in this world."
"Yes, that is so," Perrine said, nodding her pretty head.
"Well, don't worry; you'll find work in the factories. Ten sous a day is not much, but it's something, and you can get as much as twenty-two sous. I'm going to ask you a question; you can answer or not, as you like. Have you got any money?"
"A little."