Mike liked living in the alley even less than Mary, but they had been unable to rent anywhere else. Their two rooms were at the Twelfth Street end of the row, facing the alley, which of course had no sidewalks and was so narrow that Mary could buy from hucksters' wagons without moving off her own doorstep. The rent was five dollars a month, one dollar less than they had been paying Mrs. Perlak. They shared the cellar and the stairs to the bedrooms with a Mrs. Marga, whose rooms faced the courtyard, overshadowed by the high brick rear of Dzmura's hotel on Washington and forever hung with wash.
Poor living conditions
