Chapter thirteen begins with Betsy declaring that the factory working girls are equivalent to slaves. Diana agrees with her. Lyddie simply can't convince herself that she is a slave. After all, she is at least getting paid for her hard work. Because of the building tension between Lyddie and the two other girls, Lyddie begins to avoid them. She throws herself into her work, and is one of the factory's top producers. She is working up to four machines at one time.
Lyddie also writes a letter home to her family explaining her successes, hard work, and attempts to pay off all of the family debt. I believe that she is looking for any kind of support that she can find at this point. As the chapter progresses, the reader learns that Betsy has indeed decided to sign the petition for better working conditions. Betsy is fired for it, and then she decides to apply to attend Oberlin College.
As Lyddie is stressed to max with her efforts to work so many machines at one time, she is injured. Fortunately, Diana is an incredibly loving and caring individual and doesn't avoid Lyddie the way that Lyddie avoided her. Diana helps care for Lyddie's injury and even arranges for Lyddie to see a doctor friend of hers. All at no cost to Lyddie.
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