On the same evening that Gertrude visited Sam Pepper's establishment, Nelson, after closing up, determined to run down and call upon the girl and tell her about the stand and how well they had done that day.
"She'll be pleased, I know," he told himself. "She wants me to make a man of myself."
Arriving at the tenement house, he ascended the stairs to Mrs. Kennedy's rooms and knocked upon the back door. To his surprise Gladys Summers, the flower girl, let him in.
"Hullo, Gladys! you here?" he said.
"Oh, Nelson! I thought it was Gertrude," answered the flower girl. "Did you bring her along?"
"Along? I haven't seen her."
"She went over to Sam Pepper's place to bring you here. Mrs. Kennedy is very sick, and we didn't know what to do."
"I haven't been to Sam's place. I left there yesterday for good. What's the matter with the old lady?"
"Her rheumatism has got up around her heart, and she's very bad. I think she ought to have a doctor."
"She shall have one, Gladys. Was Gertrude going to get one?"