Saturday noon
It was Maggie 's last day at the mill , and she had been unusually thoughtful . Her face was more pinched , Helen thought , and the sadness in her eyes had increased . Helen had proved to be an apt pupil , and Maggie declared that thereafter she would be able to run her machine without assistance . It was Saturday noon and Maggie was ready to go , though the mill did not shut down until six that day . And so she found herself standing and looking with tearful eyes at the machine she had learned to love , at the little room in which she had worked so long , supporting her invalid father and her little ones -- as she motherly called the children . It had been hard -- so hard , and the years had been long and she was so weak now , compared to what she had been . How happy she had thought the moment of her leaving would be ; and yet now that it had come -- now -- she was weeping .