seven o'clock
said Fred . `` All you 've got to do is to come with me . It will be no trouble . '' It was seven o'clock when Fred reached home . He and his mother occupied three rooms in a tenement house , at a rental of ten dollars a month . It was a small sum for the city , but as Fred was the chief contributor to the family funds , rent day was always one of anxiety . It so happened that this very day rent was due , and Fred felt anxious , for his mother , when he left home , had but seven dollars towards it .