"  But  then  I've  never  before  seen  much  grass  except  in
the  Park."

"  Didn't  you  ever  go  to  the  country?  "

"  No.  jMother  was  a  witlow  and  bedridden.  We
had  a  tiny  income;  I  liave  it  now.  But  it  wasn't  enough
to  take  us  to  the  country."

"Didn't  you  work?"

142


THE    COMMON   LAW


"  I  couldn't  leave  mother.  Besides,  she  wished  to
educate  me."

"■  Didn't  3'ou  go  to  school.?  "

"  Onl_y  a  few  months.  We  had  father's  books.  We
managed  to  buy  a  few  more — or  borrow  them  from  the
library'.  And  that  is  how  I  was  educated,  Rita — in  a
room  with  a  bedridden  mother."

"  She  must  have  been  well  educated."

"  I  should  think  so.  She  was  a  college  graduate.
