Page:Harvey O'Higgins--Silent Sam and other stories.djvu/49

Rh chair that had lost a caster. "They 'll be gettin' new," she prophesied. She herself had clung to the old, even when Larry had wished to be rid of them. She was old herself. Well, he would soon learn whether the new was better! She shook her head prophetically. He would soon learn whether the new was better.

That mood passed, and a more characteristic one succeeded it.

She knew the girl would be some "gumchewin' young gad-about with no more than brains enough to dress herself like a fool." A shop-girl, no doubt—a shop-girl that carried all her wages on her back and walked with a wiggle! There were no girls, no more. like the girls of her day. Never a one. Now, they went to work in offices instead of staying home and learning the things a girl ought to know. They made poor wives and worse mothers. They were half of them sickly and all of them silly; they knew no more about their proper business in life than a peacock knows about hatching duck's eggs.

She muttered and grumbled it over and over while she dressed—angry at herself now, because she had dared Larry to bring the girl. What could she say to the fool creature? Let him marry her and go off with her out of this. She could take care of herself—and that 's all she would do. She did n't want to see the girl. Why should she? Drat the young snip. Who wanted to listen to her cackle? If Larry liked it, let