“Simply because I hadn’t the money!”

“You’ve had the regular monthly amount.”

“That didn’t last long—­”

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Laura was here.”

Deborah gave a shrug of impatience, and Roger saw how tired she was, her nerves on edge from her long day.

“Never mind about it now,” he put in.

“What a pity,” Deborah muttered.  “If we had been told, we could have cut down.”

“I don’t agree with you!” Edith rejoined.  “I have already done that myself!  I’ve done nothing else!”

“Have the servants been paid?” her sister asked.

“No, they haven’t-”

“Since when?”

“Three months!”

Roger got up and walked the room.  Deborah tried to speak quietly: 

“I can’t quite see where the money has gone.”

“Can’t you?  Then look at my check book.”  And Edith produced it with a glare.  Her sister turned over a few of the stubs.

“What’s this item?”

“Where?”

“Here.  A hundred and twenty-two dollars.”

“The dentist,” Edith answered.  “Not extravagant, is it—­for five children?”

“I see,” said Deborah.  “And this?”

“Bedding,” was Edith’s sharp response.  “A mattress and more blankets.  I found there weren’t half enough in the house.”

“You burned John’s, didn’t you?”

“Naturally!”

All at once both grew ashamed.

“Let’s be sensible,” Deborah said.  “We must do something, Edith—­and we can’t till we’re certain where we stand.”

“Very well—­”

They went on more calmly and took up the items one by one.  Deborah finished and was silent.

“Well, father, what’s to be done?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” he answered shortly.

“Somehow or other,” Deborah said, “we’ve got to cut our expenses down.”

“I’m afraid that’s impossible,” Edith rejoined.  “I’ve already cut as much as I can.”

“So did I, in my school,” said her sister.  “And when I thought I had reached the end, I called in an expert.  And he showed me ways of saving I had never dreamed of.”

“What kind of expert would you advise here?” Edith’s small lip curled in scorn.

“Domestic science, naturally—­I have a woman who does nothing else.  She shows women in their homes just how to make money count the most.”

“What women?  And what homes?  Tenements?”

“Yes.  She’s one of my teachers.”

“Thank you!” said Edith indignantly.  “But I don’t care to have my children brought down to tenement standards!”

“I didn’t mean to have them!  But I know she could show you a great many things you can buy for less!”

“I’m afraid I shouldn’t agree with her!”

“Why not, Edith?”

“Because she knows only tenement children—­nothing of children bred like mine!”

Deborah drew a quick short breath, her brows drew tight and she looked away.  She bit her lip, controlled herself: