But it had its whims and its moods, sometimes it resented everlasting work at three-half-pence per hour for the pair of them, and it "jibbed." But a little oil and a soothing word, and, it must be feared, sometimes with a threat, and the old thing went again.
Surely it will be sacrilege for any one else to sit upon that old chair and try to renew the life and motion of the old machine! It is strange that this oppression of women which is the cause of my greatest sorrow should also be the cause of my keenest joy.

But it is so! And why?
Because I number two thousand of these underworld women slaves among my personal friends, and I am proud of it! The letters I have given are a few out of hundreds that I have received.

I know these women as few know them.

I know their sufferings and their virtues, their great content and their little requirements.

I know that they have the same capabilities for happiness as other people, and I know that they get precious little chance of exercising those capabilities.