She cruised around for a time, hopin' to pick
up some of the other boats, but couldn't find none of 'em. There was no
tellin' how far away from the wreck an' the boats we'd drifted in the
night. The vessel that picked us up was bound for America an' so we
continued our voyage to this country.
"I've often heard people complain of the coldness an' hardness of the
world; by 'the world,' always meanin' the folks that live in it, I
suppose. To my way of thinkin' there's a deal more kindness in the world
than there is selfishness an' badness, an' the people on that steamer
proved me right in one case anyway. They made up a purse among 'em an'
give a share to each of us that had been picked out of the sea, as you
might say. So, when we landed, we each had a little money to start in
with. I soon found work in a mill, an' my poor Mona managed to keep
herself an' the baby by doin' fine sewin'. For a long time we kep' house
together, me an' Mona, then I married an' moved away to another town. My
own troubles come on me thick an' fast after that an' what with one
thing an' another, an' movin' here an' there, it was years before I set
eyes on her again. Then we met quite by accident an' I found she was
livin' not far from here with an old woman who peddled shoestrings an'
pencils on the street. Mona herself kep' a stand on a corner where she
sold apples an' peanuts an' such stuff.
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