`` Do n't you fret about me . I 'm vain enough to think I 've got some brains anyway , and I 'm a-meaning to do something with them too . Now I think I 'll go upstairs and study this evening . It will be warm enough there tonight , and the noise of the machine rather bothers me . '' Patty whisked out , and Carry knew she should go to her sewing . 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 XXXXX 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 .
For about at by from in of on since with