"Well—no," Miss Osborne confessed. "The experienced and the skillful made a dollar."
"And how much," pressed Katie, "did the least experienced and skillful make?"
"Fifty cents, I believe," replied Miss Osborne, seeming to have less enthusiasm when the scientific method was employed.
There was a jarring sound. The girl "sitting apart" had pushed her chair still farther back. "You call that a good place to work?" She addressed it to Miss Osborne in voice that scraped as the chair had scraped.
"Why yes, as places go, I believe so. Though that is why I am giving the garden party. They do need more pleasure in their lives. It is one of the under-lying principles of life—is it not?—that all must have their pleasures."
Ann laughed recklessly. Miss Osborne looked puzzled; Katie worried.
"And we are organizing this working girl's club. We think we can do a great deal through that."
"Oh yes, help them get higher wages, I suppose?" Katie asked innocently.
"N—o; that would scarcely be possible. But help them to get on better with what they have. Help them learn to manage better."
Again Ann laughed, not only recklessly but rudely. "That is surely a splendid thing," she said, and the voice which said it was high-pitched and unsteady, "helping a girl to 'manage better' on fifty cents a day!"