“I had no business, didn’t I? I like that! Ain’t I your mother?”
Billie put finger to lips in a gesture of caution and crept closer to the window. Laura pinched Vi’s arm. Edina’s face looked very white in the dusk.
“Just the same,” came the younger voice sullenly, “you ain’t keepin’ to your end of the bargain. We was to split, wasn’t we?”
“Split, is it?” The voice of the older woman rose waspishly. “I should have the big half, anyways. Ain’t I your mother?”
“It was me took all the risks. It was that way in the old days, too, wasn’t it? It was me opened the pocketbooks of the rich women in the stores while you took the money I got out of ’em! Well, it ain’t goin’ to be so no more. We split, or I quit!”
A sullen silence fell upon the room and its occupants. Outside the girls held their breath to listen. After a moment the more youthful voice continued:
“How much you got left of the money?”
“Two hundred dollars. That’s all exceptin’ a few cents in silver—a half a dollar, maybe.”
“You’ve already spent sixty dollars? Well, if that ain’t a rum go!”
Suddenly Edina clutched Billie’s arm.