noon
Mary 's eyes were very honest and her face seemed even firmer of chin as she leaned her elbows on her desk , looking up at this pretty figurine in satin and plumes . `` Do you fancy it is any fun to go to work at thirteen or fourteen ? To rush through breakfast to stand in a crowded car , to have to make your heart very small as the Chinese say , in order to appreciate the pennies and keep them until they become dollars -- when all of you longs to play Lady Bountiful ? To rub elbows with untruthful mischief-makers , coarse-mouthed foremen , impossible young fools who wish to flirt with you and whom you do not dare to rebuke too sharply ; to take your hurried noon hour with little food and less fresh air and come back to the daily grind ; to walk home or hang on to the tag end of a street-car strap and finally get to your room or your home so tired in body and mind that you wish you had no soul , protesting faintly against girls and women having to be in business ? `` No , I do n't think you do realize . Or to run errands icy-cold days , down slushy streets or slippery hills ? To carry great bundles of such daintiness as you are wearing and leave them at the doors of big houses such as your own , numbed , hungry , envious -- and not understanding the wherefore of it ?