she don't think of, that Miss Mercer!" said
Jud Harkness appreciatively, as he lit up, and sent great clouds of blue
smoke in the air. "Boys, if we don't do a tiptop job on that house to
finish it off this afternoon we ought to be hung for a lot of ungrateful
skunks. Eh?"

There was a deep-throated shout of approval for that sentiment, and,
after a few minutes of rest, during which the cigars were enjoyed to the
utmost, Jud rose and once more sounded the call to work.

"I've heard men in the city say that after a heavy meal in the middle of
the day, they couldn't work properly in the afternoon," said Eleanor, as
she watched the men go about their work, each seeming to know his part
exactly. "It doesn't seem to be so with these men, though, does it? I
guess that in the city men who work in offices don't use their bodies
enough--they don't get enough exercise, and they eat as much as if they
did."

"I love cooking for men who enjoy their food the way these do," said
Margery happily. "They don't have to say it's good--they show they think
so by the way they eat. It's fine to think that people really enjoy what
you do. I don't care how hard I work if I think that."

"Well, you certainly had an appreciative lot of eaters to-day, Margery."

As the shadows lengthened and the sun began to go down toward the west
the house rapidly assumed the look it would have when it was finished. A
good deal of the work, of course, was roughly done. There was no
smoothing off of rough edges, but all that could be done later.

And then, as the end of the task drew near, so that the watchers on the
ground could see what the finished house would be like, Mrs. Pratt,
already overwhelmed by delight at the kindness of her neighbors, had a
new surprise that pleased and touched her, if possible, even more than
what had gone before. A new procession of wagons came into sight in the
road, and this time each was driven by a woman.

And what a motley collection of stuff they did bring, to be sure! Beds
and mattresses, bedding, chairs, tables, a big cook stove for the
kitchen, pots and pans, china and glass, knives and forks--everything
that was needed for the house.

"We just made a collection of all the things we could spare, Sarah
Pratt," said sprightly little Mrs. Harkness, a contrast indeed to her
huge husband, who could easily lift her with one hand, so small was she.
"They ain't much on looks, but they're all whole and clean, and you can
u