<h2 id="c3">CHAPTER III. <br/><span class="small">VENTURING FORTH</span></h2>
<p>When Roberta entered the breakfast room, she
found Gloria and Lena May there waiting for her.
In answer to her question, the oldest sister replied
that Gwen would not unlock her door. Lena May
had left her breakfast on a tray in the hall. “We
think she is packing to leave,” Gloria sighed. “The
way Gwen takes our misfortune is the hardest thing
about it.”</p>
<p>Bobs, who was ravenously hungry after her early
morning ride, was eating her breakfast with a relish
which contrasted noticeably with the evident lack of
appetite shown by her sisters. At last she said:
“Glow, I’m not so sure all this is really a misfortune.
If something hadn’t happened to jolt us out of a rut,
we would have settled down here and led a humdrum,
monotonous life, going to teas and receptions,
bridge parties and week-ends, played tennis and golf,
married and died, and nothing real or vital would
have happened. But, now, take it from me, I, for
one, am going to really live, not stagnate or rust.”</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_27">[27]</div>
<p>Gloria smiled as she hastened to assure her sister:
“I agree with you, Bobs. I’m glad something <i>has</i>
happened to make it possible for me to carry out a
long-cherished desire of mine. I haven’t said much
about it, but ever since Kathryn De Laney came
home last summer on a vacation and told me about
the girls of the East Side who have never had a real
chance to develop the best that is in them, I have
wanted to help them. I didn’t know how to go about
doing it, not until the crash came. Then I wrote
Kathryn, and you know what happened next. She
found a place for me in the Settlement House to
conduct social clubs for those very girls of whom
she had told me.”</p>
<p>Both of the listeners noted the eager, earnest expression
on the truly beautiful face of the sister
who had mothered them, but almost at once it had
saddened, and they knew that again she was thinking
of Gwen. Directly after breakfast Gloria went
once more to the upper hall and tapped on a closed
and locked door, but there was no response from
within. However, the breakfast tray which Lena
May had left on a near table was not in sight, and
so, at least, Gwendolyn was not going hungry.</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_28">[28]</div>
<p>It seemed strange to the two younger girls to be
clearing away the breakfast things and tidying up
the kitchen where, for so many years, a good-natured
Chinaman had reigned supreme.</p>
<p>“I’m going to miss Sing more than any servant
that we ever had,” Bobs was saying when Gloria
entered the kitchen. There was a serious expression
on the face of the oldest girl and Bobs refrained
from uttering the flippancy which had been on the
tip of her tongue. Lena May, having put away the
dishes, turned to ask solicitously: “Wouldn’t Gwen
let you in, Glow?”</p>
<p>“No, I didn’t hear a sound, but the tray is gone.”
The gentle Lena May was pleased to hear that.</p>
<p>“Poor Gwen, she is making it harder for herself
and for all of us,” Gloria said; then added, “Are
you girls ready to go with me? I’d like to get over
to the city early, after the first rush is over and the
midday rush has not begun.”</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_29">[29]</div>
<p>Exultant Bobs could not refrain from waving the
dishcloth she still held. “Hurray for us!” she sang
out. “Three adventurers starting on they know not
what wild escapade. Wait until I change my togs,
Glow, and I’ll be with you.” Then, glancing down
at her riding habit, “Unless this will do?” she questioned
her sister.</p>
<p>“Of course not, dear. We’ll all wear tailored
suits.”</p>
<p>It was midmorning when three fashionably attired
girls for the first time in their lives ascended to the
Third Avenue Elevated, going uptown. At that hour
there were few people traveling in that direction and
they had a car almost to themselves. As they were
whirled past tenements, so close that they could
plainly see the shabby furniture in the flats beyond,
the younger girls suddenly realized how great was
the contrast between the life that was ahead of them
and that which they were leaving. The thundering of
the trains, the constant rumble of traffic below, the
discordant cries of hucksters, reached them through
the open windows. “It’s hard to believe that a
meadow lark is singing anywhere in the world,”
Bobs said, turning to Gloria. “Or that little children
are playing in those meadows,” the older girl replied.
She was watching the pale, ragged children
hanging to railings around fire escapes on a level
with the train windows.</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_30">[30]</div>
<p>“Poor little things!” Lena May’s tone was pitying,
“I don’t see how they can do much playing in
such cramped, crowded places.”</p>
<p>“I don’t suppose they even know the meaning of
the word,” Bobs replied.</p>
<p>They left the train at the station nearest the
Seventy-seventh Street Settlement. Since Gloria
was to be employed there, she planned starting from
that point to search for the nearest suitable dwelling.
They found themselves in a motley crowd composed
of foreign women and children, who jostled
one another in an evident effort to reach the sidewalk
where, in two-wheeled carts, venders of all kinds of
things salable were calling their wares. “They must
sell everything from fish to calico,” Bobs reported
after a moment’s inspection from the curbing.</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_31">[31]</div>
<p>The women, who wore shawls of many colors over
their heads and who carried market baskets and
babies, were, some of them, Bohemians and others
Hungarian. Few words of English were heard by
the interested girls. “I see where I have to acquire
a new tongue if I am to know what our future
neighbors are talking about,” Bobs had just said,
when, suddenly, just ahead of them, a thin, sickly
woman slipped and would have fallen had not a
laboring man who was passing caught her just in
time. The grateful woman coughed, her hand
pressed to her throat, before she could thank him.
The girls saw that she had potatoes in a basket which
seemed too heavy for her. The man was apparently
asking where she lived; then he assisted her toward
a near tenement.</p>
<p>“Well,” Bobs exclaimed, “there is evidently chivalry
among working men as well as among idlers.”</p>
<p>At the crossing they were caught in a jam of
traffic and pedestrians. Little Lena May clung to
Gloria’s arm, looking about as though terrorized at
this new and startling experience. When, after some
moments’ delay, the opposite sidewalk was reached
in safety, Bobs exclaimed gleefully: “Wasn’t that
great?” But Lena May had not enjoyed the experience,
and it was quite evident to the other two that
it was going to be very hard for their sensitive, frail
youngest sister to be transplanted from her gardens,
where she had spent long, quiet, happy hours, painting
the scenes she loved, to this maelstrom of foreign
humanity. There was almost a pang of regret
in the heart of the girl who had mothered the others
when she realized fully, for the first time, what her
own choice of a home location might mean to their
youngest. Perhaps she had been selfish, because of
her own great interest in Settlement Work, to plan
to have them all live on the crowded East Side, but
her fears were set at rest a moment later when they
came upon a group of children, scarcely more than
babies, who were playing in a gutter. Lena May’s
sweet face brightened and, smiling up at Gloria, she
exclaimed: “Aren’t they dears, in spite of the rags
and dirt? I’d love to do something for them.”</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_32">[32]</div>
<p>“I’d like to put them all in a tub of soap-suds and
give them a good scrubbing for once in their lives,”
the practical Bobs remarked. Then she caught
Gloria by the arm, exclaiming, as she nodded toward
a crossing, “There goes that chivalrous laboring
man. He steps off with too much agility to be a
ditch-digger, or anyone who does hard work, doesn’t
he, Glow?”</p>
<p>The oldest sister laughed. “Bobs,” she remarked,
“I sometimes think that you are a detective by
nature. You are always trying to discover by the
cut of a man’s hair what his profession may be.”</p>
<p>Bobs’ hazel eyes were merry, though her face was
serious. “You’ve hit it, Glow!” she exclaimed. “I
was going to keep it a secret a while longer, but I
might as well confess, now that the cat is out of
the bag.”</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_33">[33]</div>
<p>“What cat?” Lena May had only heard half of
this sentence; she had been so interested in watching
the excitement among the children caused by the
approach of an organ grinder.</p>
<p>“My chosen profession is the cat,” Bobs informed
her, “and I suppose my brain, where it has been hiding,
is the bag. I’m going to be a detective.”</p>
<p>Little Lena May was horrified. Detectives meant
to her sleuths who visited underground haunts of
crooks of all kinds. “I’m sure Gloria will not wish
it, will you, Glow?”</p>
<p>Appealingly the soft brown eyes were lifted and
met the smiling gaze of the oldest sister. “We are
each to do the work for which we are best fitted,”
she replied. “You are to be our little housekeeper
and that will give you time to go on with your painting.
I was just wondering a moment ago if you
might not like to put some of these black-eyed Hungarian
babies into a picture. If they are clean, they
would be unusually beautiful.”</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_34">[34]</div>
<p>Lena May was interested at once and glanced
about for possible subjects, and so for the time being
the startling statement of Bobs’ chosen profession
was dropped. They were nearing the East River,
very close to which stood a large, plain brick
building containing many windows. “I believe that
is the Settlement House,” Gloria had just said, when
Bobs, discovering the name over the door, verified
the statement.</p>
<p>A pretty Hungarian girl of about their own age
answered their ring and admitted them to a big
cheerful clubroom. Another girl was practicing on
a piano in a far corner. The three newcomers seated
themselves near the door and looked about with
great interest. Just beyond were shelves of books.
Bobs sauntered over to look at the titles. “It’s a
dandy collection for girls,” she reported as she again
took her seat.</p>
<p>It was not long before Miss Lovejoy, the matron
entered the room and advanced toward them. The
three girls rose to greet her.</p>
<p>Miss Lovejoy smilingly held out a hand to the
tallest, saying in her pleasant, friendly voice, “I wonder
if I am right in believing that <i>you</i> are the Miss
Gloria Vandergrift who is coming to assist me.”</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_35">[35]</div>
<p>“Yes, Miss Lovejoy, I am, and these are my
younger sisters, Roberta and little Lena May.” Then
she explained: “We haven’t moved into town as yet.
I thought best to come over this morning and find a
place for us to live; then we will have our trunks
sent and our personal possessions.”</p>
<p>“That is a good idea,” the matron said, then
asked: “Have you found anything as yet?”</p>
<p>“We thought, since we are strangers in the
neighborhood, that you might be able to suggest
some place for us,” Gloria told the matron.</p>
<p>After a thoughtful moment Miss Lovejoy replied:
“The tenement houses in this immediate neighborhood
are most certainly not desirable for one used
to comforts. However, on Seventy-eighth Street,
there is a new model tenement built by some wealthy
women and it is just possible that there may be a
vacant flat. You might inquire at the office there.
You can take the short-cut path across the playground
and it will lead you directly to the model
tenement.”</p>
<p>“Thank you, Miss Lovejoy,” Gloria said. “We
will let you know the result of our search.”</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_36">[36]</div>
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