said he, as she came in, "I have a plan to propose to you, and I
wish you to promise me beforehand, that you will accede to it. It is to
be an experiment, I acknowledge, but I wish it to have a fair trial. Now
to please me, will you promise?"

Mrs. James hesitated. She felt almost sure that his plan would be quite
impracticable, for what does a man know of a woman's work? yet she
promised.

"Now I wish you," said he, "to set apart two hours of every day for your
own private use. Make a point of going to your room and locking yourself
in; and also make up your mind to let the work which is not done, go
undone, if it must. Spend this time on just those things which will be
most profitable to yourself. I shall bind you to your promise for one
month--then, if it has proved a total failure, we will devise something
else."

"When shall I begin?"

"To-morrow."

The morrow came. Mrs. James had chosen the two hours before dinner as
being, on the whole, the most convenient and the least liable to
interruption. They dined at one o'clock. She wished to finish her
morning work, get dressed for the day, and enter her room at eleven.

Hearty as were her efforts to accomplish this, the hour of eleven found
her with her work but half done; yet, true to her promise, she left all,
retired to her room and locked the door.

With some interest and hope, she immediately marked out a course of
reading and study, for these two precious hours; then, arranging her
table, her books, pen and paper, she commenced a schedule of her work
with much enthusiasm. Scarcely had she dipped her pen in ink, when she
heard the tramping of little feet along the hall, and then a pounding at
her door.

"Mamma! mamma! I cannot find my mittens, and Hannah is going to slide
without me."

"Go to Amy, my dear; mamma is busy."

"So Amy busy too; she say she can't leave baby."

The child began to cry, still standing close to the fastened door. Mrs.
James knew the easiest, and indeed the only way of settling the trouble,
was to go herself and hunt up the missing mittens. Then a parley must
be held with Frank, to induce him to wait for his sister, and the
child's tears must be dried, and little hearts must be all set right
before the children went out to play; and so favorable an opportunity
must not be suffered to slip, without impressing on young minds the
importance of having a "place for everything and everything in its
place;" this took time; and when M