Miss Toller was away for nearly an hour; her
search for a charwoman was unsuccessful, and she came back dejected.
Helen rushed to meet her and they embraced one another.
'O Miss Toller, forgive me! When I saw you sitting with that
Poulter and that Goacher, the Devil got the better of me, but--'
'Hush, my dear; I oughtn't to have gone, and never any more from
this day call me Miss Toller. Call me Mary, always from this day--
you promise me?' and Miss Toller kissed Helen's quivering lips.
Miss Toller did all she could to get other boarders, but none came
and she had a hard time. It was difficult for her sometimes to find
a dinner for herself and Helen. Good Mrs. Mudge was delicately
considerate and often said, 'that meat need not come up again,' and
purposely ordered more than she and Miss Everard could eat, but the
butcher's bill and the milk bill were not paid so regularly as
heretofore. Worse than privation, worse than debt, was the vain
watching for inquiries and answers to her advertisement. What would
become of her? Where could she go? Three more boarders she must
have or she could not live, and there was no prospect of one.
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