The offer of Letty's help to run errands was very gladly accepted, for Annie was by no means anxious to meet any of her old friends so soon after her release from prison. By the time she came back from the country, her former absence might be forgotten, or at all events that she was deemed worthy to receive one of these holiday tickets would go far to redeem her character, and so she had no wish to see anybody if she could avoid doing so. By this means, she heard nothing of the talk about Winny Chaplin going into the country, and few heard that the plan had been given up beyond Mrs. Chaplin, and, of course, she had to be told. It was the hardest part of Winny's task to have to tell her mother. Mrs. Chaplin could not or would not see that there was any need for such a sacrifice as this. Annie Brown was nothing to them. A rude rough girl at the best, who had got herself into trouble through her uncontrolled temper; why should Winny give up her chance of health for a girl like this? If she had been a gentle, respectable girl, who went to Sunday-school, and behaved herself in a proper manner, there might be some reason in Winny giving up to her if she had happened to need it more than herself, but as it was, the notion was altogether most foolish. This was the way Mrs. Chaplin argued, and Letty followed in her mother's lead, and actually cried over it, she felt so disappointed. It was just what Winny had expected, and for a time her mother could not be persuaded to see the matter in any other light. Fortunately for everybody, Annie was too busy washing and mending her clothes to come downstairs much, and Brown was either out looking for work or sitting with Annie, as she was to leave him so soon again, and so to Winny's relief, the time went and Monday morning came without a word being said to Annie about her journey to the country. CHAPTER VI. ONE WINDY MORNING. ANNIE went to wander in cool green country lanes or pleasant sunny meadows, while Winny was left to pant and stifle in the heat of those June days, sometimes too tired and languid to eat the bread and dripping, which was all her mother could afford to get for her dinner five days out of the seven. But she never regretted the sacrifice she had made. After the first week in July, the weather changed and was much cooler. Rain fell nearly every day, and work at the docks seemed to grow slacker, and the struggle for bare existence more keen among the workers. But there was something more than this going on among the men, Mrs. Chaplin felt sure. She forgot her vexation about Annie Brown having Winny's holiday ticket in the uneasiness she felt about her husband. There was a change in Chaplin that his wife and others could not help noticing.