I shall be very glad if I can
get steady work, even at that price."
Jimmy said no more, and Mrs. Hoffman, gathering up her bundle,
went out.
She had a little more than half a mile to go. This did not
require long. She entered the large door, and advanced to the
counter behind which stood a clerk with a pen behind his ear.
"How many?" he said, as she laid the bundle upon the counter.
"Six."
"Name?"
"Hoffman."
"Correct. I will look at them."
He opened the bundle hastily, and surveyed the work critically.
Luckily there was no fault to find, for Mrs. Hoffman was a
skillful seamstress.
"They will do," he said, and, taking from a drawer the stipulated
sum, paid for them.
"Can I have some more?" asked Mrs. Hoffman, anxiously.
"Not to-day. We're overstocked with goods made up. We must
contract our manufacture."
This was unexpected, and carried dismay to the heart of the poor
woman. What she could earn was very little but it was important
to her.
"When do you think you can give me some more work?" she asked.
"It may be a month or six weeks," he answered, carelessly.
A month or six weeks! To have her supply of work cut off for so
long a time would, indeed, be a dire misfortune.
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