Have I five hundred dollars a week to lose?"
"But I tell you it won't last!" she cried, and again the baffled, driven
expression swept over her expressive face. "Can't you see this is only a
panic--and keep going somehow? Can't you see what it means to the
tenements? Hundreds of thousands are out of work! They're being turned off
every day, every hour--employers all over are losing their heads! And City
Hall is as mad as the rest! They've decided already down there to
retrench!"
He turned with a quick jerk of his head:
"Are they cutting you down?" She set her teeth:
"Yes, they are. But the work in my schools is going on--every bit of it
is--for every child! I'm going to find a way," she said. And he felt a
thrill of compassion.
"I'm sorry to hear it," he muttered.
"You needn't be." She paused a moment, smiled and went on in a quieter
voice: "Don't think I'm blind--I'm sensible--I see you can't lose five
hundred a week. But why not try what other employers, quite a few, have
decided to do? Call your people together, explain how it is, and ask them
to choose a committee to help you find which ones need jobs the most. Keep
all you can--on part time, of course--but at least pay them something,
carry them through. You'll lose money by it, I haven't a doubt. But you've
already found you can mortgage the house, and remember besides that I shall
be here. I'm not going to marry now"--her father looked at her
quickly--"and of course I'll expect to do my share toward meeting the
expenses.
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