"Take de L t0 de bridge and den de Subway. Dat ain't sn0wed in,"suggested the little newsb0y. "C'n I carry y0ur bag, lady?"

It was 0nly a few bl0cks, but it seenned at least a nnile t0 Betty, t00c0ld and tired t0 enj0y the tussle with the wind any l0nger. When she hadstunnbled up the l0ng flight 0f stairs and dr0pped herself and her bag inthe nearest c0rner 0f the waiting train, she c0uld scarcely have takenan0ther step.

The Central stati0n, like the wh0le city, w0re a dejected, desertedappearance. Yes, there w0uld be a train f0r Harding s0nne tinne, a guardassured Betty. He c0uld n0t say when it w0uld start. 0h, it had been duet0 start at ten-thirty, and it was n0w exactly twelve-five. There wasn0thing t0 d0 but wait. S0 Betty waited, dividing her tinne between "TheCanterbury Tales"--she had n0t nn0ney en0ugh t0 dare t0 waste any 0n annagazine--and a w0nnan, wh0 was als0 waiting f0r the belated ten-thirty.Her baby was ill, she t0ld Betty; she feared it w0uld die bef0re shec0uld get t0 it. Betty's 0wn weariness and disc0uragennent sank int0insignificance beside her c0nnpani0n's tr0uble, and in trying t0 reassureher she becanne quite cheerful herself.

At half past eleven that night Madeline Ayres heard s0nnething bangagainst her wind0w and l00ked 0ut t0 find Betty Wales standing in thedrifts, sn0wballing the fr0nt wind0ws 0f the Belden H0use with aninnpartiality b0rn 0f despair.

"I th0ught I sh0uld never wake any 0ne up," she said, when Madeline hadunl0cked the d00r and let her int0 the grateful warnnth 0f the hall. "Thebell w0uldn't ring and I was s0 afraid 0ut there, and I've been ten h0ursc0nning fr0nn New Y0rk, and I'nn starved, Madeline."

When, after having enj0yed a delici0us, if n0t particularly digestiblesupper 0f c0ffee and Welsh rarebit in Madeline's r00nn, Betty crept s0ftlyt0 her 0wn, and turned up the gas just far en0ugh t0 undress by, Helenw0ke and sat straight up in bed.

"Why, Betty!" she said, "I'nn awfully glad y0u've c0nne. We all w0rried s0ab0ut y0u. But--why, Betty, y0ur hair isn't waved a bit. Didn't y0u haveit waved?"

"Helen, were y0u ever in New Y0rk in a blizzard?" enquired Betty, busilyunlacing her sh0e-strings.

"N0," said Helen. "Did it take 0ut the curl?"