farther in silence.

"Tell me about it, won't you?" he said; and the kindness in his tone
made its impression.

"'Tis not much ye know of a coal-camp, Joe Smith," she said. "Can't ye
imagine what it's like--bein' a woman in a place like this? And a woman
they think good-lookin'!"

"Oh, so it's that!" said he, and was silent again. "Some one's been
troubling you?" he ventured after a while.

"Sure! Some one's always troublin' us women! Always! Never a day but we
hear it. Winks and nudges--everywhere ye turn."

"Who is it?"

"The bosses, the clerks--anybody that has a chance to wear a stiff
collar, and thinks he can offer money to a girl. It begins before she's
out of short skirts, and there's never any peace afterwards."

"And you can't make them understand?"

"I've made them understand me a bit; now they go after my old man."

"What?"

"Sure! D'ye suppose they'd not try that? Him that's so crazy for liquor,
and can never get enough of it!"