She had covered many blocks, when she came abreast of buildings occupied by colored people. There was a barber shop where men were being shaved, and a restaurant where others were eating; a soda fountain also, and she wondered whether the people who conducted it made any money this time of the year.
The night seemed to have grown much colder, from the frost that was on the windows, but Mildred Latham did not feel it. Her face, she felt it for a moment, was flushed. And then it occurred to her that her throat was dry. Oh, yes. She knew why, now. She had cried all the way from Mother Jane's to here—wherever it was. And her face was hot, her throat was dry, and she wanted water. She must have water, or she could no longer swallow. For a moment she hesitated before the soda fountain. Then she opened the door and entered. A man who sat in the rear approached. He was a neat man, with a heavy mustache. He invited her to a chair at a table that was near a glowing fire. She took it. He waited her order politely.
"I would like some—a-soda water, if you please," she said hesitatingly. He looked at her a moment keenly, winked his right eye, and then his left—then his right eye again, twice. She looked at him without understanding. He repeated it. She wondered what he meant. Presently he moved behind the counter, and returned with her order.
While she drank it, another, a woman came in. Mildred watched him incidentally. He repeated the winking process, while she glanced at the other, who repeated it. He went now to a room in the rear, and when he returned, he handed her something in a package. The woman gave him a half dollar, and waited for no change.
"You're a stranger about here, Miss?" he said, observing her a bit dubiously.
"Yes, sir," she replied, "I am a stranger about here."
"Oh, I see," he said, now gazing at her very keenly a few moments. "You're one of the solicitors for the Y.M.C.A., I suppose," said he, after a moment's thought.
"No, sir, I am not," she replied with a start, and wondered why he asked her.
"They was a-planning t' have a meeting overhead here t'night, was why I asked," he said.
"Oh, is that so," she commented, and then added: "I am not connected with it in any way, but I am very much interested in it."