WHEN HAPPINESS SEEMED NEAR!
Granny Jenks, after great bustling about and clattering of dishes, sat down at last to copious draughts of strong tea, flavored with whisky.
"Oh, granny, aren't you taking a drop too much?" ventured Liane apprehensively.
"Mind your own business, girl. I'll take as much as I choose! Ay, and pour some down your throat, too, if you don't look out!"
Liane drank her tea in silence, while the old woman went on angrily:
"I want that forty dollars you kept back from me, girl, and I mean to have it, too, or give you a beating!"
This was a frequent threat, so Liane did not pay much heed, she only gazed fixedly at the old hag, and said:
"Granny, suppose I were to go away and leave you forever, do you think you could be happy without me?"
"Humph! And why not, pray?"
Liane sighed, and answered: