the neighboring
towns and cities, getting a few weeks' work here and there, but had no
fancy for facing winter in this precarious manner. The hopeful feeling
animating so many in the early autumn died out again. It was feared
that we had not seen the worst of the panic.

To Sylvie, who the preceding winter had been engrossed in art-studies
and delightful social life, the want and misery were appalling. She and
Miss Morgan did organize a visiting-society according to an idea of Dr.
Maverick's; and though they alleviated many cases of distress, and were
the better able to distinguish who were worthy, still they increased
upon their hands.

"I begin to realize that poor people do not make the best of their
money," she said. "They do not know how to prepare dishes that shall be
cheap and palatable. And, worst of all, many of them cannot cook a
potato so that it shall be fit to eat."

"The weak point of this world, Miss Sylvie," said Dr. Maverick. "When
women learn to make good bread and cook potatoes, there will be a
decrease of one-half in dyspepsia. Now, what is the secret of the
potatoes? Come, air your ideas! Give me a recipe, and I will take it
around among my patients. I advise them pretty generally to bake them,
but I find some soggy and watery even then."

"Overdone," said Miss Morgan briefly.

"Well, state the exact time."

The women looked at each other, and laughed.

"From twenty minutes to half an hour," said Mrs. Darcy. "Some kinds boil
easier than others. For baking, three-quarters to an hour."

"But the infallible test?"

"Watchfulness," said Jane.

"I must admit that you seem to understand it thoroughly, judging from
the specimens I have seen and eaten. But are you not a little chary in
your information?" and he glanced from one to another.

"Miss Morgan shall be first spokeswoman," declared Sylvie gayly.

"If it is a boiled potato," began Jane sententiously, as if she were a
child speaking a piece, "I put mine in the saucepan, and pour hot water
over them, as they come to a boil sooner, taking care that they shall be
as nearly of a size as possible. In about twenty minutes I try an
average potato. If I can stick a fork through it nicely, it is done.
Then I pour off the water, letting it drain until every drop is gone,
when I shake up the lot two or three times rather hard and quick, stand
them on the back of the stove with the cover partly off, so that the
steam may escape; and you have a dr