The Caravansary was but a few doors from the Fulhams’; an old-fashioned, hospitable affair, with high ceilings, white marble mantels, and narrow windows.  Mrs. Dennison, the house-mother, suited the place well.  Her widow’s cap and bands seemed to go with the grave pretentiousness of the rooms, to which she had succeeded in giving almost a personal atmosphere.  There was room for her goldfish and her half-dozen canary cages as well as for her “cooeperators”—­no one there would permit himself to be called a boarder.

Kate, sensitive from her isolation and sore from her sorrows, had imagined that she would resent the familiarities of those she would be forced to meet on table terms.  But what was the use in trying, to resent Marna Cartan, the young Irish girl who meant to make a great singer of herself, and who evidently looked upon the world as a place of rare and radiant entertainment?  As for Mrs. Barsaloux, Marna’s patron and benefactor, with her world-weary eyes and benevolent smile, who could turn a cold shoulder to her solicitudes?  Then there were Wickersham and Von Shierbrand, members, like Fulham, of the faculty of the University.  The Applegates and the Goodriches were pleasant folk, rather settled in their aspect, and all of literary leanings.  The Applegates were identified—­both husband and wife—­with a magazine of literary criticism; Mr. Goodrich ran a denominational paper with an academic flavor; Mrs. Goodrich was president of an orphan asylum and spent her days in good works.  Then, intermittently, the company was joined by George Fitzgerald, a preoccupied young physician, the nephew of Mrs. Dennison.

They all greeted Kate with potential friendship in their faces, and she could not keep back her feeling of involuntary surprise at the absence of anything like suspicion.  Down in Silvertree if a new woman had come into a boarding-house, they would have wondered why.  Here they seemed tacitly to say, “Why not?”

Mrs. Dennison seated Kate between Dr. von Shierbrand and Marna Cartan.  Opposite to her sat Mrs. Goodrich with her quiet smile.  Everyone had something pleasant to say; when Kate spoke, all were inclined to listen.  The atmosphere was quiet, urbane, gracious.  Even David Fulham’s exotic personality seemed to soften under the regard of Mrs. Dennison’s gray eyes.

“Really,” Kate concluded, “I believe I can be happy here.  All I need is a chance to earn my bread and butter.”

And what with the intervention of the Goodriches and the recommendation of the Fulhams, that opportunity soon came.

V

A fortnight later she was established as an officer of the Children’s Protective Association, an organization with a self-explanatory name, instituted by women, and chiefly supported by them.  She was given an inexhaustible task, police powers, headquarters at Hull House, and a vocation demanding enough to satisfy even her desire for spiritual adventure.