"Why don't you try to get on the stage," said Mrs. Tracy, patting the girl's shoulder. "You are young, and, to tell you the truth, you've an uncommonly pretty face."
"The stage?" echoed Jessie. "Why, I was never on the stage in all my life. What could I do on the stage?"
"You would make your fortune," declared the woman, "if you were clever. And there's your sister, too, she is almost as pretty as yourself. She'd like it, I am sure."
At that moment a woman who was passing hurriedly through the dimly lighted hall stopped short.
"What is this I hear, Mrs. Tracy?" she exclaimed. "Are you advising your new boarders, those two pretty, young girls, to go on the stage?"
"Yes," returned the other. "They are looking for work, and drudgery would be such hardship for them. And to tell the exact
