Mrs.Gray and Montgomery's mother had been schoolmates and playmates, and their friendship endured.

When old Edwin Peter Brewster looked about for a place to house his orphaned grandson, Mrs.Gray begged him to let her care for the little fellow.

He was three years older than her Margaret, and the children grew up as brother and sister.

Mr.Brewster was generous in providing for the boy.
While he was away at college, spending money in a manner that caused the old gentleman to marvel at his own liberality, Mrs.Gray was well paid for the unused but well-kept apartments, and there never was a murmur of complaint from Edwin Peter Brewster.

He was hard, but he was not niggardly.
It had been something of a struggle for Mrs.Gray to make both ends meet.