I picked up everybody's spools and thimbles, and other far-rolling objects.

I did just as I was told, for I was determined to become a famous milliner, since America honored the workman so.

But most of the time I was sent away on errands--to the market to buy soup greens, to the corner store to get change, and all over town with bandboxes half as round again as I.It was winter, and I was not very well dressed.

I froze; I coughed; my mistress said I was not of much use to her.

So my mother kept me at home, and my career as a milliner was blighted.
This was during our last year in Russia, when I was between twelve and thirteen years of age.