could let this heart of gold be crushed to powder.



III

FORTUNE FAVORS THE IMPUDENT

Like all people who lead useful lives and neither have nor
pretend to have acquired tastes for fine-drawn emotion, Otto and
Hilda indulged in little mooning. They put aside their
burdens--hers of dread, his of despair--and went about the work
that had to be done and that healthfully filled almost all their
waking moments; and when bed-time came their tired bodies refused
either to sit up with their brains or to let their brains stay
awake. But it was gray and rainy for Hilda and black night for
Otto.

On Sunday morning he rose at half-past three, instead of at four,
his week-day rising time. Many of his hard-working customers
were astir betimes on Sunday to have the longer holiday. As they
would spend the daylight hours in the country and would not reach
home until after the shop had closed, they bought the supplies
for a cold or warmed-up supper before starting. Otto looked so
sad--usually he was in high spirits--that most of these early
customers spoke to him or to Joe Schwartz about his health.
There were few of them who did not know what was troubling him.
Among those friendly and unpretending and well-acquainted people
any one's affairs were every one's affairs--why make a secret of
what was, after all, only the routine of human life the world