ing-room. It was on the south side of the house; so they called it
the Big South Window.

On bright days the sun shone through it and flooded the sitting-room
with golden sunshine. From it Mother could see green fields near by and
purple hills in the distance and the blue sky over all.

"I love my Big South Window," she often said.

She sat there to do the sewing and mending. She sat there to read and
sometimes just to enjoy the view--orchard and woods, green fields and
the big elm tree, purple hills and blue sky.

One day in Autumn, a letter came to Mother from her sister. "Please come
and make me a visit," the letter said.

"I do not see how I can go," said Mother. "There are so many things to
be done here."

"Oh, yes, you must go," said Father. "You have not had a vacation in a
long time. We'll get Aunt Martha to come and keep house."

"I'll look after the chickens and the ducks," said Bobby. "And I'll keep
the wood box full for Aunt Martha."

So one day in October Mother said good-by and went away on her long
journey. She was to be gone three weeks.

From the very first, Bobby missed her greatly. Most of all he missed her
at evening, when she was not there to tell him a good-night story. But
for the first week he stood it very well, his extra chores helping to
pass the time away.

After that it seemed such a long time since he _had_ seen her, and such
a very long time until he _would_ see her, that he could scarcely wait.

Every morning he counted the days until she would come home. When the
second week had passed, he could say, "Only seven more days until Mother
comes home."

That day, after he had fed the chickens and ducks and filled the wood
box, he went into the sitting-room and sat in Mother's rocker and
looked out through her favorite window.

Then he noticed how dirty it was.

"That will never do," thought Bobby. "Her window must be as bright and
shiny as if she were here to look at it."

Bobby washed the big window on the inside and then he went outside. By
standing on the kitchen stool and getting Aunt Martha to push down the
upper sash, he could reach the top.

So with feeding the chickens and the ducks, and romping with Rover, and
looking after Betty, and watching the men at work, and playing with his
blocks and trains, and reading a book which Mother sent him, another
week passed.

At last came the morning when it was only a few hours before she would
come.

Bobby could hardly ea