“O—perhaps,” Sonia returned with a chilling lack of enthusiasm.
“O Sonia, don’t act so about it,” Olga pleaded. “You know you must get something to do. You will go to-morrow and see the manager, won’t you—after Miss Laura has taken so much trouble for you?”
“For me!” There was a sneer in Sonia’s voice. “Much she cares for me. She did it for you—you know she did. You needn’t pretend anything else.”
“I don’t pretend—anything,” Olga said, the brightness dying out of her face.
In the morning she watched her sister with intense anxiety, but she dared not urge her further, and Sonia seemed possessed by some imp of perversity to do everything in her power to prolong Olga’s suspense. She stayed in bed till the last minute, dawdled over her breakfast, insisted upon giving the baby her bath—a task which she usually left to her sister—and when at last she was ready to go out it was nearly noon.
“You’ll have to give me money to get something to eat down town, Olga,” she said then. “It will be noon by the time I get to that store, and I can’t talk business on an empty stomach. I’d be sure to make a bad impression if I did. Half a dollar will do.”
With a sigh Olga handed her the money. Sonia took it with a mocking little laugh, and was gone at last.
“O, I wonder—I wonder if she will really try to get the place,” Olga said to herself as the door closed. She set to work then, but her restless anxiety affected her nerves and the work did not go well. The baby too fretted and required more attention than usual. As the day wore on Olga began to worry about the baby—her small face was so pinched, and the blue shadows under her eyes were more noticeable than usual; so it was with an exclamation of relief that, opening the door in response to a knock in the late afternoon, she saw the nurse who had taken care of her in the summer.
“O, I’m so glad it’s you, Miss Kennan!” she cried. “Do come in and tell me what ails this baby.”
“A baby! Whose is it?” the nurse asked; but as she looked at the child, she forgot her question. “The poor little soul!” she exclaimed. Then with a quick sharp glance at the girl, “What have you been giving it?”