Scrubbing floors was not bad. Without fear in the back of her mind she could laugh and joke with the other scrub women when they met to eat a midnight lunch in the tall building. She could sleep in her quiet room without fear of being rudely awakened to appease a befuddled man and guard against his attacks. And she was independent! When Ellie left her job as waitress to marry Ted Hayes they went into a small house, just around the corner from the rooming house where Ada lived. "Come live with us, mother," said Ellie. "Ted wants you to." "Oh, no!" Ada replied. "I'll have my own place, though it _is_ only one room." It was some years ago that Ellie went around with the letter. That time stood out clearly for Ada. The young folks had not started their family early. Then there were two boys, Carl and Alfred. Sometimes Ellie brought the children to her mother's room. But that time she was alone. Ellie was nervous and fidgety. "Mother, I want to tell you something," she said at last. "Well, out with it," said Ada, impatiently. Ellie drew the letter from her pocket. "Now don't flare up, Mother." She tried to laugh. "Stop fussing and come to the point." Ellie took the letter from the envelope. "It's another letter from Howard," she said timidly. "Another!" cried Ada. "Have you heard from him before?" "Y-y-yes. Please forgive him for leaving home and not writing for so long. H-he wants to take care of you. He wants you to stop working." "How does he know I'm working?" "I told him. And that you won't come with us because you think you'll be a burden on Ted. As if--" "Oh! Squealing to your brother who did not write to us for half a life time. The trouble and worry he caused me when he ran away! Having the neighbors talk about us more than before! I'm ashamed of you, Ellie! Where's your spunk?" Ada remembered how patient Ellie was that day. How hard she tried to explain. How she said: "Please! Howard wanted to make good before he let us hear from him. He has been working for an archeologist of late years. He travels all over the world with expeditions." "Why didn't he say all this before?" "He did. But I was afraid to tell you. You're so stubborn, Mother. Now you are getting old and I think you should--" Even now Ada recalled the hot flush of anger that crept over her. "You take that letter out of here," she said. "B-but--" "If you ever mention his name again I'll forbid you to come here. And don't you forget it." "I won't forget it." Ellie had gone out, her pointed chin as firmly set as her mother's. That was the last mention of Howard and in Ada's senile years even the memory of him was blurred. She studied the hands under the sheet. The knobby joints, the callus. How clever those hands could have been! Even in her first grades in school she loved to sketch. But there was no money to develop her talent. And when Ben Webster came with his handsomeness and charm she didn't care about it.