The slight, bent form of the father straightened up, as he asked, quickly,—­

“Does the fellers around town pay attention to your sister Jane?”

“Why, of course they do,” said little Mary, entirely unable to translate the gaze which her father bent upon her.  “Jane never gets through her work at the hotel before there’s a lot o’ fellers hangin’ round the door an’ wantin’ to see her, an’ takin’ her out to get ice-cream or sody-water, or to go to the circus if there’s one in town, or to go to the dramatic representation,—­that’s what they call it on the bills,—­if there happens to be one in the village that night.”

“Wife,” said Sam, turning to his helpmate, “what wages does Jane get?”

“Six dollars a month,” said the wife.

“Does she bring any of it home?  Does the family get the good of any of it?”

“Not one cent,” said Mrs. Kimper, with a pitiful whine.  “She says she has to wear decent clothes at the hotel or they won’t keep her there any more.”

Sam Kimper stayed awake all that night, although his manners to his family next morning were those of a staid and respectable citizen who had nothing upon his mind but the ordinary duties of the day.

Nevertheless, he was out and about soon after breakfast, and he wandered through every street of the village in which any business was being done.  Again and again he asked for work, and as often the offer was refused or declined or relegated into the uncertain future for a decision.  The surplus in his pocket had grown lamentably small.  As he made his way homeward in a physical and mental condition which made it impossible for him either to argue to himself or to express a sense of hope to any extent, he passed the shop of Larry Highgetty.  Larry was a shoemaker.  Sam had worked at shoemaking while he was in State prison.  He felt, although Larry might have been offended at the imputation, that there ought to be a fellow-feeling between them; so he ventured into the shop.  Larry was sitting at his bench with a lady’s shoe in one hand and with his head leaning against the wall of the room.  From the stertorous noise which escaped his nostrils, it was quite evident that he was asleep, and an odor which filled the room left the visitor in no doubt as to the nature of the opiate which had induced Larry’s mid-day nap.

“You seem to be takin’ business very easy, Mr. Highgetty,” said Sam, with an apologetic air, as he closed the door behind him, and Larry awoke.  “Pay must be gettin’ better?”

“Better?” said Larry, rubbing his eyes.  “I don’t want it to be any better than it is now.  Besides, people’s comin’ in all the time faster than I can tend to ’em; ev’rybody wants his work done first an’ is willin’ to pay extra price to get it.  Better, is it?  Well, yes; I should say that no such luck had struck shoemakers in this town in a long while.”

“You haven’t half finished what you’re on now, Larry,” said Sam, taking the shoe from the cobbler’s hand and looking at it.