"Oh, I never ask her for anything," said Matilda.
"Take it without asking?"
"I do not ask, and she does not give me, Norton. But once she did, when she first came; she gave me, each of us, twenty-five dollars. I have got that, all that is left of it."
"How much is left of it?"
"Why, I don't know exactly. I spent four dollars for something else; then eighty-five cents yesterday; and a dollar just, to-day. That makes"——
"Five eighty-five," said Norton. "And that out of twenty-five, leaves nineteen fifteen."
"I've got that, then," said Matilda.
"And no hope of more? That won't do, Pink. Nineteen dollars won't last for ever at this rate. Here's the baker's."
The bread Norton paid for and carried off, and the two stepped along briskly to Lilac Lane.
Matilda was very glad privately that she had swept Mrs. Eldridge's floor yesterday. The place looked so much the more decent; though as it was, Norton cast his eyes around him whistling low, and Matilda knew well enough that he regarded it as a very odd place for either himself or Pink to find themselves in.