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Show 37 Bridey Culley called, "Francis X! Where the divil is that scamp? Come along and watch if there's an ore slip, Francis X." Wherever he was, Francis X Culley didn't show himself. Karl watched with interest as Bridey and Jame pinned pair after pair of men's drawers onto the line. He knew that Bridey did all the laundry from the general superintendent's mansion overlooking the mill. Charles Bonner, the general superintendent of the Canaan Works of the Carnegie Steel Company, was the closest thing to royalty the town of Canaan, Pennsylvania, could boast, and it amused Karl to get a look at the great man's underwear. So many pairs of drawers hung on the line that Charles Bonner must change his underwear every single day. As Bridey returned to her house with the empty basket, she patted the cheek of Mary Margaret, who was coming out the back door. "Mind now, lovey, do a good job of work," Bridey told her daughter, her voice carrying clearly to where Karl knelt. "God only knows we need the wages you're bringin' in." Mary Margaret smiled at her mother. The long-sleeved black shirtwaist and long black skirt Mary Margaret wore made her thin frame look funereal, robbed her of any youthfulness. Yet Mary Margaret was lucky to have been hired as a maid in the general superintendent's mansion. The Culleys had fallen on harder than usual times after Jame lost his job, and her small wages helped them survive. On her way to the back gate, Mary Margaret turned her eyes toward the Kerner yard, but Karl ducked down in the tomato plants so he wouldn't |
