st law, it occasionally
happens that it is better to break the law than to be broken by it.
And so, when the young housekeeper's nicely arranged plans for each day
in the week are suddenly turned topsy-turvy, let her take heart of
grace, remembering that there are whole days that "ain't teched yet,"
and begin again.

MONDAY

The chief objection to washing on Monday is that it necessitates
sorting and putting the soiled linen to soak on Sunday, which not only
violates the religious principles of many households, but shortens and
spoils the flavor of the maid's free Sabbath evening. Then, too, the
sorting of the linen often reveals holes and rents which should
properly be repaired before laundering increases the damage, and a
Tuesday washing makes this possible, with the straightening out and
readjustment generally necessary after Sunday. On the other hand, the
longer the linen remains unlaundered the more difficult it is to
cleanse, with the risk that good drying days may tarry and the ironing
thus linger along till the end of the week, which is inconvenient and
bothersome all round. Therefore it seems quite advisable for Mrs.
Grundy to wash on Monday, and an occasional postponement until Tuesday
will not then be a matter of any great moment. The routine work of
every day--the airing, brushing up, and dusting of the rooms, the
preparation and serving of meals at their regular hours, the chamber
work, dish-washing, in short, all the have-to-be-dones, must not, and
need not, be interfered with by the special work which belongs to each
day. There are hours enough for both, and rest time, too, unless the
housekeeper or maid be cut after the pattern of Chaucer's Sergeant of
the Law:

"Nowher so bisy a man as he ther nas,
And yet he semed bisier than he was."

Wash day is always somewhat of an ordeal, and a long pull, a strong
pull, and a pull all together is necessary to carry it successfully
through. A simple breakfast will give the maid an opportunity to sort
and put the clothes to soak, if this was not done the night previous,
heat water for the washing, and perhaps prepare vegetables for the
day's meals, before breakfast is served; and if her mistress lends a
helping hand with the dishes, dusting, or other regular work of the
day, she can go to her tubs just that much earlier. Getting up in the
wee sma' hours and working by early candle light is misdirected
ambition. The maid needs her rest to fit he