wish we were dead poah, and lived in a plain little cottage and did our
own work. Then I wouldn't have time to get lonesome. I'd be lots
happiah.

"One day, when Miss Gilmer and I were talking about Ederyn in his
Dungeon of Disappointment, she said that we could always get out of our
troubles the same way that he did; that the cobwebs he twisted into
ropes were disagreeable to touch. Nobody likes to put their hands into
dusty cobwebs, and that they represent the disagreeable little tasks
that lie in wait for everybody. She said that, if we'll just grapple the
things that we dislike most to do, the little homely every-day duties,
and busy ourselves with them, they'll help us to rise above our
discontent. I've been trying all mawning to think of some such cobwebs
for me to take hold of, and there isn't a single one."

Mrs. Sherman smiled at the wobegone face turned toward her. "Fancy any
one being miserable over such a state of affairs as that!" she laughed.
"Actually complaining because there's nothing disagreeable for her to
do! Well, we'll have to look for some cobwebs to occupy you. Maybe if
you can't find them at home, you can do like the old woman who was
tossed up in a basket, seventy times as high as the moon. Don't you
remember how Mom Beck used to sing it to you?

"'Old woman! Old woman! Old woman, said I,
O whither, O whither, O whither so high?
_To sweep the cobwebs out of the sky_,
But I'll be back again, by and by.'"

She trilled it gaily as she fastened her belt, and took out her hat and
gloves.

"Fate must have given her just such a cobwebless home as you have, and
she had to soar high to rise above her troubles. Come on, little girl,
get your hat and coat, and we'll go in search of something disagreeable
for you to do; but I hope your quest won't take you seventy times as
high as the moon."

They drove down to the store to attend to the day's marketing. While
Mrs. Sherman was ordering her groceries, Lloyd went to the back of the
store, where one of the clerks was teaching tricks to a bright little
fox-terrier. She was so interested in the performance that she did not
know when Miss Allison came in, or how long she and her mother stood
discussing her.

"Yes," said Mrs. Sherman, "she has been brave about it. She never
complained but once, and that to me this morning. But we know how
unhappy she is. Jack and papa worry about her all the time. They want me