received were very small. Somehow they had to find ways of getting more
money. When she was eleven years old Mary went to work in the factory,
too. Would she ever get a chance to be a missionary or must she give up
that dream?

"Mary, Mary," called Mrs. Slessor, "it's five o'clock. Time to get up and
go to work."

"Ho, hum," said Mary, "I'm still tired, but I'll get right up. I don't want
to be late!"

At six o'clock in the morning Mary was at work. She had to tend to the
shuttles on the weaving machines. The weaving sheds where Mary worked were
damp and dark. All morning long she heard the whirring of the belts and the
clacking of the looms. In the afternoon she went to school. By the time she
was fourteen years old she was an expert weaver. She now began to work
full time.

The hours were long. Twelve hours every day for six days a week the
fourteen-year-old girl worked in the factory. And the pay was very
small. But it was a joy when she received her pay on Saturday night. Mary
hurried home.

"Mother, Mother," she called happily as she hurried into the house, "here
is the money I earned this week."

"Oh, Mary, that is so good of you," said Mother Slessor. She wiped tears
from her eyes with the end of her apron. She felt sad that Mary had to work
in a factory. She thought of her own childhood in a happy home where there
was always plenty to eat and plenty of money to buy things that were