Mrs. Turner shook her head vigorously.
"Won't do," she said. "Can't pay it. Twelve's my best, and when I have a cook—I'm out of one just now—all you have to do for it is to scrub and sweep and clean the house, wash dishes, and wait on table. How long did you stay in your last place?"
Mrs. Turner gave another skeptical "Hum" as Violet answered:
"Two years."
"Will you take it at twelve dollars, or will you not?" asked the woman, sharply.
Violet had been told to descend gradually and not to accept a cent under fourteen dollars a month; but she was no haggler.
"I'll take it," she said.
"And good pay, too, considerin'," commented Mrs. Turner. "I dunno. It someways don't look reg'lar. Got your trunk over to the settlement?"
Violet explained that she had no trunk; that she had just come from the hospital and had as yet had no opportunity to replenish what had been a sadly depleted wardrobe.
"Hum!" said Mrs. Turner.