frequently able to earn as much as from fourteen to sixteen
dollars, according to their skill. And since board and room
were only consuming seven of what she earned, she was
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delighted to communicate to Roberta, whom she liked very
much, that she might come and room with her if she wished.
Roberta, having reached the place where she felt that she
could no longer endure farm life but must act for herself
once more, finally arranged with her mother to leave in
order that she might help her more directly with her wages.
But once in Lycurgus and employed by Clyde, her life, after
the first flush of self-interest which a change so great
implied for her, was not so much more enlarged socially or
materially either, for that matter, over what it had been in
Biltz and Trippetts Mills. For, despite the genial intimacy of
Grace Marr—a girl not nearly as attractive as Roberta, and
who, because of Roberta’s charm and for the most part
affected gayety, counted on her to provide a cheer and
companionship which otherwise she would have lacked—
still the world into which she was inducted here was
scarcely any more liberal or diversified than that from which
she sprang.
For, to begin with, the Newtons, sister and brother-in-law of
Grace Marr, with whom she lived, and who, despite the fact
that they were not unkindly, proved to be, almost more so
than were the types with whom, either in Biltz or Trippets
Mills, she had been in constant contact, the most ordinary
small town mill workers—religious and narrow to a degree.
George Newton, as every one could see and feel, was a
pleasant if not very emotional or romantic person who took
his various small plans in regard to himself and his future as
of the utmost importance. Primarily he was saving what
little cash he could out of the wages he earned as
threadman in the Cranston Wickwire factory to enable him
to embark upon some business for which he thought
himself fitted. And to this end, and to further enhance his
meager savings, he had joined with his wife in the scheme
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of taking over an old house in Taylor Street which permitted
the renting of enough rooms to carry the rent and in
addition to supply the food for the family and five boarders,
counting their labor and worries in the process as nothing.
And on the other hand, Grace Marr, as well as Newton’s
wife, Mary, were of that type that here as elsewhere find the
bulk of their social satisfaction in such small matters as
relate to the organization of a small home, the establishing
of its import and integrity in a petty and highly conventional
neighborhood and the contemplation of life and conduct
through the lens furnished by a purely sectarian creed.
And so, once part and parcel of this particular household,
Roberta found after a time, that it, if not Lycurgus, was
narrow and restricted—not wholly unlike the various narrow
and restricted homes at Biltz. And these lines, according to
the Newtons and their like, to be strictly observed. No good
could come of breaking them. If you were a factory
employee you should accommodate yourself to the world
and customs of the better sort of Christian factory
employees. Every day therefore—and that not so very long
after she had arrived—she found herself up and making the
best of a not very satisfactory breakfast in the Newton
dining room, which was usually shared by Grace and two
other girls of nearly their own age—Opal Feliss and Olive
Pope—who were connected with the Cranston Wickwire
Company. Also by a young electrician by the name of Fred
Shurlock, who worked for the City Lighting Plant. And
immediately after breakfast joining a long procession that
day after day at this hour made for the mills across the
river. For just outside her own door she invariably met with
a company of factory girls and women, boys and men, of
the same relative ages, to say nothing of many old and
weary-looking women who looked more like wraiths than
human beings, who had issued from the various streets and
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367
houses of this vicinity. And as the crowd, because of the
general inpour into it from various streets, thickened at
Central Avenue, there was much ogling of the prettier girls
by a certain type of factory man, who, not knowing any of
them, still sought, as Roberta saw it, unlicensed contacts
and even worse. Yet there was much giggling and
simpering on the part of girls of a certain type who were by
no means as severe as most of those she had known
elsewhere. Shocking!
And at night the same throng, re-forming at the mills,
crossing the bridge at the depot and returning as it had
come. And Roberta, because of her social and moral
training and mood, and in spite of her decided looks and
charm and strong desires, feeling alone and neglected. Oh,
how sad to see the world so gay and she so lonely. And it
was always after six when she reached home. And after
dinner there was really nothing much of anything to do
unless she and Grace attended one or another of the
moving picture theaters or she could bring herself to
consent to join the Newtons and Grace at a meeting of the
Methodist Church.
None the less once part and parcel of this household and
working for Clyde she was delighted with the change. This
big city. This fine Central Avenue with its stores and moving
picture theaters. These great mills. And again this Mr.
Griffiths, so young, attractive, smiling and interested in her.
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Chapter 14
IN THE same way Clyde, on encountering her, was greatly
stirred. Since the abortive contact with Dillard, Rita and
Zella, and afterwards the seemingly meaningless invitation
to the Griffiths with its introduction to and yet only passing
glimpse of such personages as Bella, Sondra Finchley and
Bertine Cranston, he was lonely indeed. That high world!
But plainly he was not to be allowed to share in it. And yet
because of his vain hope in connection with it, he had
chosen to cut himself off in this way. And to what end? Was
he not if anything more lonely than ever? Mrs. Peyton!
Going to and from his work but merely nodding to people or
talking casually—or however sociably with one or another
of the storekeepers along Central Avenue who chose to hail
him—or even some of the factory girls here in whom he
was not interested or with whom he did not dare to develop
a friendship. What was that? Just nothing really. And yet as
an offset to all this, of course, was he not a Griffiths and so
entitled to their respect and reverence even on this
account? What a situation really! What to do!
And at the same time, this Roberta Alden, once she was
placed here in this fashion and becoming more familiar with
local conditions, as well as the standing of Clyde, his
charm, his evasive and yet sensible interest in her, was
becoming troubled as to her state too. For once part and
parcel of this local home she had joined she was becoming
conscious of various local taboos and restrictions which
made it seem likely that never at any time here would it be
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possible to express an interest in Clyde or any one above
her officially. For there was a local taboo in regard to factory
girls aspiring toward or allowing themselves to become
interested in their official superiors. Religious, moral and
reserved girls didn’t do it. And again, as she soon
discovered, the line of demarcation and stratification
between the rich and the poor in Lycurgus was as sharp as
though cut by a knife or divided by a high wall. And another
taboo in regard to all the foreign family girls and men,—
ignorant, low, immoral, un-American! One should—above all
—have nothing to do with them.
But among these people as she could see—the religious
and moral, lower middle-class group to which she and all of
her intimates belonged—dancing or local adventurous
gayety, such as walking the streets or going to a moving
picture theater—was also taboo. And yet she, herself, at
this time, was becoming interested in dancing. Worse than
this, the various young men and girls of the particular
church which she and Grace Marr attended at first, were
not inclined to see Roberta or Grace as equals, since they,
for the most part, were members of older and more
successful families of the town. And so it was that after a
very few weeks of attendance of church affairs and
services, they were about where they had been when they
started—conventional and acceptable, but without the
amount of entertainment and diversion which was normally