Page:The Fruit of the Tree (Wharton 1907).djvu/26

Rh “I think it’s one of the worst places I ever saw—and I am not unused to slums. It looks so dead. The slums of big cities are much more cheerful.”

He made no answer, and after a moment she asked: “Does the cotton-dust always affect the lungs?”

“It’s likely to, where there is the least phthisical tendency. But of course the harm could be immensely reduced by taking up the old rough ﬂoors which hold the dust, and by thorough cleanliness and ventilation.”

“What does the company do in such cases? Where an operative breaks down at twenty=ﬁve?”

“The company says there was a phthisical tendency.”

“And will they give nothing in return for the two lives they have taken?”

“They will probably pay for Dillon’s care at the hospital, and they have taken the wife back as a scrubber.”

“To clean those uncleanable ﬂoors? She’s not ﬁt for it!”

“She must work, ﬁt for it or not; and there is less strain in scrubbing than in bending over the looms or cards. The pay is lower, of course, but she’s very grateful for being taken back at all, now that he’s no longer a ﬁrst-class worker.”

Miss Brent’s face glowed with a ﬁne wrath. “She can’t possibly stand more than two or three months of it without breaking down!” [ 14 ]