when he came home on a visit from California, by way of the Isthmus,
to visit old friends and relatives. John's Mother always kept it
standing on the floor in one corner of the room beside the what-not."

"Aunt Sarah, why was straw ever put under this carpet?"

"The straw was put there, my dear, to save the carpet, should the
boards on the floor be uneven. My Mother was always particular about
having _cut rye straw_, because it was softer and finer than any
other. It was always used in those days instead of the carpet linings
we now have. I remember sometimes, when the carpet had been newly
laid, in our home, immediately after house cleaning time, the surface
of the floor looked very odd; full of bumps and raised places in
spots, until frequent walking over it flattened down the straw. This
room happens to have a particularly good, even floor, as this part of
the house was built many years later than the original, old farm
house, else it would not do to have it painted."

"Aunt Sarah, may I have the old spinning wheel in the attic? I'd love
to furnish an old Colonial bedroom when I have a home of my very own.
I'll use the rag carpet you made me for the floor, the old-fashioned,
high-post bed Uncle John said I might have, and the 'New Colonial'
rugs you taught me to make.

"Yes, my dear, and there is another old grandfather's clock in the
attic which you may have; and a high-boy also, for which I have no
particular use."

"Aunt Sarah, we shall not put away this really beautiful old sampler
worked in silk by Uncle John's grandmother when a girl of nine years.
It is beautifully done, and is wonderful, I think. And what is this
small frame containing a yellowed piece of paper cut in intricate
designs, presumably with scissors?"

"Look on the back of the picture and see what is written there, my
dear," said her Aunt.

Mary slowly read: "'This is the only picture I owned before my
marriage. I earned the money to buy it by gathering wheat heads.'"

"It belonged to my grandmother," said Aunt Sarah. "In old times, after
the reapers had left the field, the children were allowed to gather up
the wheat remaining, and, I suppose, grandmother bought this picture
with the money she earned herself, and considered it quite a work of
art in her day. It is over one hundred years old."

CHAPTER XVII.

AN OLD SONG EVENING.

Aunt Sarah and Mary spent few idle moments while carrying out their
plans for "doing over" the o