"So you have come to town," said Mrs. Harling, her eyes still fixed on
Lena. "Where are you working?"
"For Mrs. Thomas, the dressmaker. She is going to teach me to sew. She
says I have quite a knack. I'm through with the farm. There ain't any end
to the work on a farm, and always so much trouble happens. I'm going to be
a dressmaker."
"Well, there have to be dressmakers. It's a good trade. But I would n't
run down the farm, if I were you," said Mrs. Harling rather severely. "How
is your mother?"
"Oh, mother's never very well; she has too much to do. She'd get away from
the farm, too, if she could. She was willing for me to come. After I learn
to do sewing, I can make money and help her."
"See that you don't forget to," said Mrs. Harling skeptically, as she took
up her crocheting again and sent the hook in and out with nimble fingers.
"No, 'm, I won't," said Lena blandly. She took a few grains of the popcorn
we pressed upon her, eating them discreetly and taking care not to get her
fingers sticky.
Frances drew her chair up nearer to the visitor. "I thought you were going
to be married, Lena," she said teasingly. "Did n't I hear that Nick
Svendsen was rushing you pretty hard?"
Lena looked up with her curiously innocent smile. "He did go with me quite
a while. But his father made a fuss about it and said he would n't give
Nick any land if he married me, so he's going to marry Annie Iverson.
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