Linda searches for work, but finds job hunting difficult, because potential employers require recommendations that she, as a fugitive, is unable to provide. Finally she meets Mrs. Bruce, a kindly English woman, who hires her as a nurse for her baby, Mary. Mrs. Bruce is a "true and sympathizing friend" to Linda. When Linda is unable to perform her duties because constant stair climbing causes her legs to swell, Mrs. Bruce brings in her personal physician to attend to Linda. Mrs. Bruce also offers Linda the opportunity to bring Ellen to live with her, but Linda declines her offer for fear of offending Mrs. Hobbs. Mrs. Bruce also offers to have her personal physician, Dr. Elliot, attend to Ellen, who is still experiencing problems with her eyes, a condition related to a bout of measles at age two. But when Linda asks Mrs. Hobbs' permission for Ellen to see Dr. Elliot, she refuses. Later, she informs Linda that she has employed her own doctor to attend to Ellen. Meanwhile, Linda, who is using her meager earnings to help provide for Ellen, grows increasingly anxious about her daughter's future.
The chapter ends brightly, because William, Linda's brother arrives in New York — dressed in sailor attire — and reunites with Linda and Ellen. The three easily re-establish the bonds among them, "There are no bonds so strong as those which are formed by suffering together."
