human
Shelves and birdcage had all disappeared
gpt
Mary Rose was perched on a chair across from him and was telling him of Mifflin
human
There on the wide window seat was the self-supporting cat
gpt
It's there in every lease, plain as print, Larry Donovan insisted.
human
No childern, no dogs an' no cats. It's in every lease.
gpt
I don't care if it is! Kate Donovan's face was as red as a poppy and she spoke with a determination that exactly matched her husband's.
human
You needn't think I'm goin' to turn away my own sister's only child? Who should take care of her if I don't? Tell me that, Larry Donovan, an' be ashamed of yourself for askin' me to send her away!
gpt
Sure, an' I'd like the little thing here as much as you, Kate, dear, Larry said soothingly, and in her heart Mrs. Donovan knew that he meant it.
human
But it isn't every day that a man picks up a job like this, janitor of a swell apartmen' buildin', an' if we take in a kid when the lease says plain as can be, no childern, no dogs an' no cats, I'll lose the job an' then how'll I put a roof over your heads an' bread in your stomachs? That's why I'm again' it.
gpt
A clever man like you'll find a way. Mrs. Donovan's confidence was both flattering and stimulating. If a woman expects her husband to do things he just has to do them. He has no choice.
human
Don't you worry. You haven't been out of work since we were married 'cept the three months you was laid up with inflamm't'ry rheumatiz. The way I look at it is this: the good Lord must have meant us to have Mary Rose or he wouldn't have taken her mother an' her father an' all her relations but us. Seems if he didn't send us any of our own so we'd have plenty of room in our hearts an' home for her. She's a present to us straight from the Lord.
gpt
That may be, Kate, Larry scratched his puzzled head.
human
But will the agents, will Brown an' Lawson look at it that way? The lease says----
gpt
Bother the lease! Mrs. Donovan interrupted him impatiently.
human
What's the lease got to do with a slip of a girl who's been left an orphan down in Mifflin?
gpt
That's just what I'm tryin' to tell you. Larry clung to his temper with all of his ten fingers, for it was irritating to have her refuse to understand.
human
If we took Mary Rose in here to live don't you s'pose all those up above, he jerked his thumb significantly toward the ceiling,
gpt
explosively.
human
When one isn't findin' fault another is. When I've heat enough for ol' Mrs. Johnson it's too hot for Mrs. Bracken. Mrs. Schuneman on the first floor has too much hot water an' Miss Adams on the third too little. Mrs. Rawson won't stand for Mrs. Matchan's piano an' Mrs. Matchan kicks on Mrs. Rawson's sewin' machine. Mr. Jarvis never gets his newspaper an' Mrs. Lewis al'ys gets two. Mrs. Willoughby jumps on me if a pin drops in the hall. She can't stand no noise since her mother died. She don't do nothin' but cry. I don't blame her man for stayin' away. I'd as soon be married to a fountain. When they can't find anythin' else to jaw me about they take the laundries. An' selfish! There isn't one can see beyond the reach of his fingers. I used to think that folks were put into the world to be friendly an' helpful to each other but I've learned different. He sighed and shook his head helplessly.
gpt
Mrs. Bracken on the first floor has lived here as long as we have, two years nex' October, an' I've yet to hear her give a friendly word to anyone in the house. When little Miss Smith up on the third was sick las' winter did her nex' door neighbor lend a hand? She did not. She was just worried stiff for fear she'd catch somethin'. She gave me no peace till Miss Smith was out of the house an' into a hospital. Peace! I've forgot there was such a word. They won't stand for any kid in the house when the lease says no childern, no dogs an' no cats.
human
You can't tell me anythin' about _them_! Mrs. Donovan agreed with pleasant promptness. It is always agreeable to have one's estimate of human nature endorsed.
gpt
An' the most of 'em look like thunder clouds when you meet 'em. Ain't it queer, Larry, how few folks look happy when a smile's 'bout the cheapest thing a body can wear? An' it never goes out of style. I know I never get tired seein' one on old or young. All folks can't be rich nor han'some but most of us could look pleasant if we thought so, seems if. I want to tell that to little Miss Macy every time I see her, but I know full well she'd say I was impudent, so I keep my mouth shut. Maybe the tenants won't stand for a child in the house. They haven't wit to see that the Lord had his good reasons when he invented the fam'ly. But there's some way. There must be! An' we've got to find it, Larry Donovan. Are you goin' to wash Mrs. Rawson's windows today? She changed the subject abruptly.
human
She called me up twice yesterday to see they needed it, as if I had nothin' to do but traipse aroun' after her.
gpt
It isn't that I don't want the little thing here, Kate. She'd be good for both of us. It's bad for folks to grow old 'thout young ones growin' up around 'em, but a job's a job. It wouldn't be easy for a man to get another as good as this at this time of year. See the home it gives you.