<h2 id="c6">CHAPTER VI. <br/><span class="small">A LOST SISTER</span></h2>
<p>Two weeks later many changes had taken place.
Mr. Tenowitz had agreed to have one of the two
large back rooms transformed into a modern kitchen
at one end, and the other end arranged so that it
might be used as a dining-room. In that room the
early morning sun found its way, and when Lena
May had filled the windows with boxes containing
the flowering plants brought from the home gardens,
it assumed a cheerfulness that delighted the
heart of the little housekeeper.</p>
<p>Too, the huge chandeliers in the salon had been
wired with electricity, and great was the joy in the
heart of Bobs on the night when they were first
lighted. The rich furnishings from their own drawing-room
were in place and the effect was far more
homelike than Gloria had supposed possible.</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_54">[54]</div>
<p>The two large rooms on the other side of the
wide dividing hall had been fitted up as bed chambers
and the furniture that they did not need had
been stored in the large room over the kitchen.</p>
<p>How Lena May had dreaded that first night they
had spent in the old house, not because she believed
it to be haunted. Gloria had convinced her that
that could not possibly be so, but because of the
unusual noises, she knew that she would not be able
to sleep a wink. Nor was she, for each time that
she fell into a light slumber, a shriek from some
passing tug awakened her, and a dozen times at least
she seized her roommate, exclaiming, “Glow, what
was that?” Sometimes it was a band of hoodlums
passing, or again an early milk wagon, or some of
the many noises which accompanied the night activities
of the factory that was their next-door neighbor.</p>
<p>It was a very pale, sleepy-eyed Lena May who
set about getting breakfast the next morning, with
Gloria helping, but Bobs looked as refreshed as
though she had spent the night in her own room on
Long Island, where the whippoorwill was the only
disturber of the peace.</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_55">[55]</div>
<p>“You’ll get used to it soon,” that beaming maiden
told Lena May, and then, when the youngest girl
had gone with a small watering pot to attend to the
needs of her flower gardens at the front of the house,
Bobs added softly: “Glow, how have you planned
things? It never would do to leave Lena May all
alone in the house, would it? And yet you and I
must go out and earn our daily bread.”</p>
<p>“I shall take Lena May with me wherever I go;
that is, I will at first, until we have things adjusted,”
the older sister replied. Then she inquired: “What
do you intend to do, Bobsie, or is it a secret as yet?”</p>
<p>“It sure is,” was the laughing reply, “a secret from
myself, as well as from everyone else, but I’m going
to start out all alone into the great city of New York
this morning and give it the once over.”</p>
<p>“Roberta Vandergrift, didn’t you promise me that
you would talk like a Johnsonian if we would rent
this house?” Gloria reprimanded.</p>
<p>The irrepressible younger girl’s eyes twinkled.
“My revered sister,” she said, solemnly, “my plans
for the day are as yet veiled in mystery, but, with
your kind permission, I will endeavor to discover in
this vast metropolis some refined occupation, the
doing of which will prove sufficiently remunerative
to enable me to at least assist in the recuperation of
our fallen fortunes.” Then rising and making a
deep bow, her right hand on her heart, that mischievous
girl inquired: “Miss Vandergrift, shall I
continue conversing in that way during our sojourn
in this ancient mansion, or shall I be—just natural?”</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_56">[56]</div>
<p>Lena May, who had returned, joined in the laughter,
and begged, “Do be natural, Bobs, please, but
not too natural.”</p>
<p>“Thank you, mademoiselles, for your kind permission,
and now I believe I will don my outdoor
apparel and go in search of a profession.”</p>
<p>Gloria looked anxiously at the young girl before
her, who was of such a splendid athletic physique,
whose cheeks were ruddy with health, and whose
eyes were glowing with enthusiasm. Ought she to
permit Bobs to go alone into the great surging mass
of humanity so unprotected?</p>
<p>“Roberta,” she began, “do not be too trusting,
dear. Remember that the city is full of dangers
that lurk in out-of-the-way places.”</p>
<p>The younger girl put both hands on the shoulders
of the oldest sister and, looking steadily into her
eyes, she said seriously: “Glow, dear, you have
taught us that the greatest thing a parent can do
for her daughter is to teach her to be self-reliant that
she may stand alone as, sooner or later, she will
have to do. I shall be careful, as I do not wish to
cause my sisters needless worry or anxiety, but I
<i>must</i> begin to live my own life. You really wish
me to do this, do you not, Gloria?”</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_57">[57]</div>
<p>“Yes, dear,” was the reply, “and I am sure the
love of our mother will guide and guard you. Good-bye
and good luck.”</p>
<p>When Bobs was gone, Lena May slipped up to
the older sister, who had remained seated, and, putting
a loving arm over the strong shoulders, she
said tenderly: “Glow, there are tears in your eyes.
Why? Do you mind Bobs’ going alone out into
the world?”</p>
<p>“I was thinking of Mother, dear, and wishing
I could better take her place to you younger girls,
and too, I am worried, just a little, because Gwendolyn
does not write. It was a great sorrow to me,
Pet, to find that she had left without saying good-bye,
and I can’t help but fear that I was hasty when
I told her that she must plan her life apart from us
if she could not be more harmonious.”</p>
<p>Then, rising, she added: “Ah, well, things will
surely turn out for the best, little girl. Come now,
let us do our bit of tidying and then go over to the
Settlement House and find out what my hours are
to be.”</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_58">[58]</div>
<p>But all that day, try as she might to be cheerful,
the mothering heart of Gloria was filled with anxiety
concerning her two charges. Would all be well with
the venturous Bobs, and why didn’t Gwen write?</p>
<div class="pb" id="Page_59">[59]</div>
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