financial head above water. Thus he limited his personal expenses to the
preservation of his wardrobe, and he had cut down his cost of living to
a degree that permitted only a very low, lunch-wagon diet. He saw in
Mrs. Sammet's hospitality the prospect of a meal, and although he was by
no means courageous, his appetite spurred him on to brave his creditors'
wrath.

"I'll take a look at her," he murmured apologetically, and he began to
elbow his way through the group that surrounded the engaged couple.
Morris patted him on the shoulder as he passed and was about to return
to the back parlour when a shriek came from the centre of the
congratulatory throng.

"Boris!" cried a female voice with a note of hysteria in its shrill
tones.

"Sonia!" B. Gurin exclaimed, and the next moment he clasped Mrs.
Gladstein in his arms.

* * * * *

"You was asking me the name of Mrs. Gladstein's first husband," said Sol
Klinger to Morris Perlmutter, as they descended the stoop together half
an hour later. "It was Aaron Lutsky. He died two years after they was
married. I knew his family well in the old country--her's too,
Perlmutter. Her father was a feller by the name Polanya, and to-day yet
he runs a big flour mill in Koroleshtchevitzi."

"So I understand," Morris said; "but what's that you got there under
your coat?"