Christian fiction; Love stories; Man-woman relationships -- Fiction; Nineteen twenties -- Fiction; Young women -- Fiction
She had bought a few necessities for her wardrobe also, a couple of
remnants to make more thin dresses, a pair of fifty-cent slippers from
the bargain counter to save her shoes while she was working. In fact,
most of her purchases were from the bargain counters, a hair-brush and
comb, a change of undergarments and night wear, two pairs of stockings,
and some towels. What a lot of things one needed to live! And when she
counted up there was just twenty-four dollars and eighty-seven cents
left of her small capital. It made her gasp as she thought of the weeks
ahead before her engagement in the Bible School would commence, and how
was she to live? She must be very, very economical. But yet she need
not be afraid. The barrel of meal had not wasted so far. God would take
care of her, and her heart began to sing as she remembered how He had
brought her safely so far out of her difficulties.
Then when she got home she was hailed by Mrs. Bryant. Mrs. Ritter, down
the street, wanted to know if Joyce would be willing to come in and sit
with her sister for the evening. She had made an engagement to go to
the city with her husband, and now her sister was sick and she didn’t
like to leave her alone in the house. There was really nothing to do
but give her her medicine every hour and answer the telephone and the
door bell. Mrs. Ritter would be glad to pay her for her time, fifty
cents an hour was what she thought would be fair. She wouldn’t be home
till the midnight train, but Mr. Ritter would walk down with her after
they got back, so she needn’t be afraid to come home.
Joyce thanked Mrs. Bryant for speaking of her. She said of course she
would go, and went about her little house with shining eyes, singing.
The barrel of meal was filling up again. How wonderful! There would
be three more dollars! She had taken a good dinner in the city at an
automat restaurant which Mrs. Bryant had recommended, and she did not
feel the need of an elaborate meal that night. So she drank some milk
and finished her crackers and cheese, rolled up one of the remnants
with her scissors and thimble and thread, and started out to Mrs.
Ritter’s. If all went well she might be able to get another dress
started during the evening.
The next day she invested in some boards and went to work sawing. It
was rather rough work, and she got splinters in her hands and sawed
some of the joints a bit crookedly, but she finally put some very
creditable corners together, sawing off parts of each and dovetailing
them into one another as she had seen carpenters do, until she had a
good, strong framework a little over six feet long and thirty inches
wide, which was the size of the space in which she could put her bed
without running across the windows.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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