Though she was the younger of the two sisters, it had somehow always been her aim to keep Melissa happy. She could not bear to see Melissa's blue eyes clouded with tears or to know she was suffering in any way. She had adored Melissa since they were babies together.

"There's--just enough bread--for supper----I think--in case Mother doesn't get her money."

"Oh, but surely she'll get something, won't she?" asked Melissa, looking up with new anxiety in her eyes. "Didn't she say that Father had some government bonds put away that were only to be used in an absolute emergency? And didn't she say she was sure he would consider that they had to be used now. Surely she would be able to get money on them right away."

"I don't know," answered Phyllis doubtfully. "Perhaps it takes time to get government bonds cashed. Maybe she wouldn't be able to get the money until tomorrow. I thought we ought to save what there is for supper so everybody would get something, in case. . ." Her voice trailed off into anxious silence.

Her sister looked at her sharply, noted the blue shadows under the brown eyes, the pinched white look around the sweet lips.

"I'll bet you never ate any lunch yourself, Phyl. Come, own up. Did you?"

"Well, I didn't have time, really," evaded Phyllis. "You see, I had to make that fire. I was out all morning myself hunting a job, but everything had been taken before I got there, of course."

"And so you came home and washed the dishes and didn't eat a crumb. Why didn't you at least make yourself a cup of tea? There's quite a lot of tea, isn't there?"

"Well, not a lot, but, you see, the gas went out before I got the dishwater heated, and I didn't have a quarter to put in the meter."

"Mercy!" said Melissa, getting up from the chair and walking back and forth frantically like a caged lion. "Isn't this awful! To think of us all hungry, and not a cent to get anything with! I spent my last nickel going down to that library. I had to walk home. I think God is just awful to treat us this way! Yes, I do, Phyllis! You needn't look so horrified! We're hungry! We'll starve pretty soon if this keeps on! Oh! I'd give anything for a good thick juicy beefsteak!" And she ended with a choking sob of desperation.

"Oh, Melissa, don't!" wailed a small sweet voice from the doorway.

The two girls turned, and there stood Rosalie, their little sister, blue eyes troubled and fearful, gold curls dripping with rain, little cold fingers gripping her schoolbag, the water squashing out of the crack in her boots.

CHAPTER TWO

Both girls were filled with compunction at once, but it was Phyllis who sprang to her and took the heavy schoolbag from her.

"Why, you're wet, darling! Where is your umbrella? Your hair is simply dripping. And your clothes are wet through to the skin. Didn't you carry an umbrella this morning to school?"

"Yes, but somebody took it," said Rosalie, troubled. "I think it was that Sara Hauser. Some of the other girls have missed things. I'm so sorry. It was Mother's silk one. She made me take it this morning."

"Never mind, Rosy Posy," soothed Phyllis. "It isn't the worst thing in the world."

"No, I guess not!" murmured Melissa from the window where she had retreated and was looking out on the dirty street with unseeing eyes.

"Why does Lissa talk that way?" asked Rosalie, turning troubled eyes on Phyllis.

"Oh, she's just a little upset because someone else had the job at the library. But she'll get another pretty soon," explained Phyllis. "Take off your wet shoes, Rosy, quick! You'll get tonsillitis again."

"H'm! Another job! Fat chance!" grumbled Melissa.

Rosalie submitted to being dried off and wrapped in a blanket by the register, from which a good rush of heat was now issuing, but her eyes were still troubled as she watched her oldest sister driving a pin hard into the windowsill, her very back eloquent with desolation.

"Why does Lissa talk that way, Phyllie?" she asked again. "I heard her say she was hungry. Haven't we anything left to eat, sister?"

"Well, we've got a little left for supper.