But she sat a long while at the table in dismal thought . She was so tired , and so hopeless . It had been such a hard struggle , and it seemed now as if it would all come to naught . For five years , ever since her mother 's death , Carry had supported herself and Patty by dressmaking . They had been a hard five years of pinching and economizing and going without , for Enderby was only a small place , and there were two other dressmakers . Then there was always the mortgage to devour everything . Carry had kept it at bay till now , but at last she was conquered . She had had typhoid fever in the spring and had not been able to work for a long time . Indeed , she had gone to work before she should . The doctor 's bill was yet unpaid , but Dr. Hamilton had told her to take her time . Carry knew she would not be pressed for that , and next year Patty would be able to help her . But next year would be too late . The dear little home would be lost then . When Carry roused herself from her sad reflections , she saw a crumpled note lying on the floor . She picked it up and absently smoothed it out . Seeing Patty 's name at the top she was about to lay it aside without reading it , but the lines were few , and the sense of them flashed into Carry 's brain . The note was an invitation to Clare Forbes 's party ! The Lea girls had known that the Forbes girls were going to give a party , but they had not expected that Patty would be invited . Of course , Clare Forbes was in Patty 's class at school and was always very nice and friendly with her . But then the Forbes set was not the Lea set .
Carry ran upstairs to XXXXX 's room .
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