they said. And if she can stand the mending, what a time it will be for
her!"

Gloria's eyes opened wide with astonishment. Rose smiled. It was a smile
that almost made her face look girlish. "It does seem awful to talk that
way, but it's the truth. Just think of it!--Sal never had anything nice
to eat! I saw them bringing a tray to one near Sal, and it held things
Sal never tasted in her life. And she has such a nice room and bed."

"Tell me about Sal, please," said Gloria. "Her mother seemed to feel so
terribly."

Rose's face hardened. "Well, she's probably forgotten her grief by now;
that is, if she's got hold of anything to drink. That's the way she'll
celebrate it. She beat poor Sal regular. You know--" Rose's voice
dropped a little, as though she hated to say what she was going to say,
"Sal isn't just the same as the rest of us. She's always had to lean on
things, and sometimes they break with her."

Gloria shuddered.

"Sal's had lots of breaks; but then everything in this house is sort of
uncertain. The ceiling, for instance. The ceiling in Dinney's room came
down once before his mother died, and it just missed her. It would have
killed her then if it had hit her. It nearly killed Dinney, but he's
tough."

"They will mend the stair railing!" Gloria cried.

Rose's face hardened, and she looked down and pressed her lips against