She began to mount the stairs which led to the upper floors

The ledge of the window was so low that a mere step took her
outside

"I'm going up to play with the little girl, mother . . . You
don't mind, do you?"




PART ONE


In the fierce airless heat of the small square room the child
Judith panted as she lay on her bed. Her father and mother slept
near her, drowned in the heavy slumber of workers after their
day's labour. Some people in the next flat were quarrelling,
irritated probably by the appalling heat and their miserable
helplessness against it. All the hot emanations of the sun-baked
city streets seemed to combine with their clamour and unrest, and
rise to the flat in which the child lay gazing at the darkness.
It was situated but a few feet from the track of the Elevated
Railroad and existence seemed to pulsate to the rush and roar of
the demon which swept past the windows every few minutes. No one
knew that Judith held the thing in horror, but it was a truth
that she did. She was only seven years old, and at that age it is
not easy to explain one's self so that older people can
understand.