CHAPTER III.
THE MARRIAGE OF ANKA The withdrawing of Mrs.Fitzpatrick from Paulina's life meant a serious diminution in interest for the unhappy Paulina, but with the characteristic uncomplaining patience of her race she plodded on with the daily routine at washing, baking, cleaning, mending, that filled up her days.

There was no break in the unvarying monotony of her existence.

She gave what care she could to the two children that had been entrusted to her keeping, and to her baby.
It was well for her that Irma, whose devotion to the infant became an absorbing passion, developed a rare skill in the care of the child, and it was well for them all that the ban placed by Mrs.
Fitzpatrick upon Paulina's house was withdrawn as far as Irma and the baby were concerned, for every day the little maid presented her charge to the wise and watchful scrutiny of Mrs.Fitzpatrick.
The last days of 1884, however, brought an event that cast a glow of colour over the life of Paulina and the whole foreign colony.
This event was none other than the marriage of Anka Kusmuk and Jacob Wassyl, Paulina's most popular lodger.

A wedding is a great human event.

To the principals the event becomes the pivot of existence; to the relatives and friends it is at once the consummation of a series of happenings that have absorbed their anxious and amused attention, and the point of departure for a new phase of existence offering infinite possibilities in the way of speculation.