isa-normaladvance-1913-00204

Description:	204THE NORMAL ADVANCESn Snefcritafcle struggleSARA J. KINGFOR several weeks Jane Douglas had pacedthe streets of New York looking for employment. Every morning she had started outwith fresh hope, only to come home at nightweary, foot-sore, and disappointed. Generallyshe was met with a curt refusal on the part olthe men to whom she applied sometimes theytold her to come later and they might be ableto give her employment sometimes, struck byher beauty, her youth and her apparent innocence, they, in lieu of the employment for whichshe asked made suggestions which caused herto blush with shame. She knew from herperusal of the columns of the daily papersheaded Help Wanted that she could easilysecure employment as a domestic, but her prideand gentle nature shrank from that. As herhope gradually diminished with her meagrefunds, she would fiercely murmur to herself,I wont do that, Ill starve first.And now as she trudged through the rain toher cheap lodging house she wearily realizedthat her last penny was gone and with it herlast hope.Apparently there was no place in merry, busy,merciless New York for a homeless orphan.Jane was a timid, sensitive, ambitious girl andhad the rare hopes and high, fantastic idealscommon to a girl of eighteen who had beenreared in the country, and whose knowledge oflife had been limited. When she had buriedher widowed mother two months before, shehad realized that the last tie which bound herto the town of her birth was gone—that henceforth she must rely upon her own resources.Like many another simple, country girl, shelooked to New York as the one place of opportunity. There she would make delightful, richfriends who wTould admire her beauty andeagerly entertain her. Finally, perhaps, shemight meet there the one knight of her dreams,who would tenderly love her who wouldshower upon her every luxury and eagerlygratify her every desire. She had a thousandtimes pictured herself shopping in a wonderfulelectric coupe, such as she had only seen inpictures. And she had imagined herself scoresof times, elaborately gowned, with a brilliantcompany, seated in a box at the theater assiduously attended by a handsome, admiring husband.And now, poor child, she had seen New Yorkas it really was. No gallant knight, eager tolove her, had she met and with the exceptionof a motherly landlady, Mrs. Davis, she hadnot made a single friend.As she opened the door of her lodging house,her landlady met her at the door with a smileof motherly solicitude upon her face. Anyluck today, dear?No, Jane wearily replied. Then assuminga hope which she did not feel she added, perhaps something will turn up tomorrow.A troubled look came across the face of thelandlady and she said, Listen, dear, I have acousin here in town who wants a young girlto take care of her three little children through^the day. She has poor health and will be gladto pay well a young girl who will play withthem and be kind to them. I told her aboutyou, dear, and she said to tell you to come tosee her that she thought you would be justthe kind of a girl she wanted. Mrs. Davishad loved Jane the moment she saw her, and,knowing the temptations of New York, shehad feared greatly for her.Janes eyes flashed fire and she replied hotly,Do you think for a minute, Mrs. Davis, that Iwill consent to be a common nurse girl—to betreated with condescension and to eat in thekitchen with the servants. I wont.She turned without another word andclimbed to her little, meagerly furnished hallbedroom which had been the best she could
Source:	http://indstate.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/isuarchive/id/34649
Collection:	Indiana State University Archives

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