to a woman's heart. The pleasures of his home and her society appeared to be
all that he craved. At times she had wondered a little at a certain air of
apprehensiveness in his manner when steps were heard upon the stairs, but as
the quiet days and weeks passed, such manifestations of nervousness ceased.
Occasionally, he would start violently and mutter strange words in his sleep,
but noting disturbed the growing sense of security and satisfaction in Alida's
heart. The charm of a regular, quiet life grows upon one who has a nature
fitted for it, and this was true to an unusual degree of Alida Ostrom. Her
content was also increased by the fact that her husband was able each month to
deposit a goodly portion of their united earnings in a savings bank.

Every day, every week, was so like the preceding ones that it seemed as if
their happy life might go on forever. She was gladly conscious that there was
more than gratitude and good will in her heart. She now cherished a deep
affection for her husband and felt that he had become essential to her life.

"Oh, how happy mother would be if she knew how safe and protected I am!" she
murmured one March evening, as she was preparing her husband's dinner.
"Leaving me alone in the world was far worse to her than dying."

At that very moment a gaunt-looking woman, with a child in her arms, stood in
the twilight on the opposite side of the street, looking up at the windows.


Chapter VII. From Home to the Street

As the shadows of the gloomy March evening deepened, Alida lighted the lamp,
and was then a little surprised to hear a knock at the door. No presentiment
of trouble crossed her mind; she merely thought that one of her neighbors on
the lower floors had stepped up to borrow something.