"_First_ thing," said Matilda, "I think would be to get somebody to
clean the house. There are only two little rooms. It wouldn't be much.
Don't you think so, Norton?"

"As we cannot build a palace, and have it new, I should say the old one
had better be cleaned."

"Sabrina Rogers would do it, I dare say," Matilda went on; "and maybe
that would be something good for her."

"Teach her to clean her own?" said Norton.

"Why no, Norton; her own is clean. I meant, maybe she would be glad of
the pay."

"There's another princess, eh, that wants a palace?" said Norton. "If
we could, we would new build Lilac Lane, wouldn't we? But then, I
should want to make over the people that live in it."

"So should I, and that is the hardest. But perhaps, don't you think the
people _would_ be different, if they had things different?"

"I'm certain I should be different, if I lived where they do," said
Norton. "But go on, Pink; let us try it on--what's her name. We have
only cleaned her house yet."

"The first thing, then, is a bedstead, Norton."

"A bedstead! What does she sleep on?"

"On the floor; with rags and straw, and I think a miserable
make-believe of a bed. No sheets, no blankets, nor anything. It is
dreadful."

"Rags and straw," said Norton. "Then a bedstead wants a bed on it,
Pink; and blankets or coverlets or something, and sheets, and all that."

Matilda watched Norton's pencil as it noted the articles.

"Then she wants some towels, and a basin of some sort to wash in."

"H'm!" said Norton. "Herself, I hope?"

"Yes, I hope so. But she has nothing to make herself clean with."

"Then a stand, and basin, and towels; and a pitcher, Pink, I suppose,
to hold water."

"Yes, a pitcher, or jug, or something. We want to get the cheapest
things we can. And soap."

"Let's have plenty of that," said Norton, putting down soap. "Now
then--what next?"

"A little wooden table, Norton; she has nothing but a chair to set her
tea on."

"A table. And a carpet?"

"Oh, no, Norton; that's not necessary. It is warm weather now. She does
not want that. But she _does_ want a pail for water. I have to take the
tea-kettle to the pump."

Norton at this laughed, and rolled over on the grass in his amusement.
Having thus refreshed himself, he came back to business.

"Has she got anything to go on her fire, except a tea-kettle?"

"Not much. A saucepan would be a very useful thing, and not cost much.
I bought one the other day;