rce
of habit, I reckon, I began cleaning. A powerfully good way to reason
out things sometimes is to work; and just then I had to work. I began
on the storeroom, which was well lighted and which was also used as a
pantry. As soon as I began straightening up I began to wonder where
the mother would sleep. By arranging things in the storeroom a little
differently, I was able to make room for a bed and a trunk. I decided
on putting Daniel there; so then I began work in earnest. Elizabeth
laid down her work and helped me. We tacked white cheesecloth over the
wall, and although the floor was clean, we scrubbed it to freshen it.
We polished the window until it sparkled. We were right in the middle
of our work when Mrs. O'Shaughnessy came, and Daniel with her.

They were all excitement, but Mrs. O'Shaughnessy is a real general
and soon marshaled her forces. Daniel had to go to Newfork after his
mother; that would take three days. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy pointed out
to him the need of a few pieces of furniture; so he took a wagon and
team, which he got a neighbor to drive, while he took another team
and a buggy for his mother. Newfork is a day's drive beyond Pinedale,
and the necessary furniture could be had in Pinedale; so the neighbor
went along and brought back a new bed, a rocker, and some rugs. But
of course he had to stay overnight. I was for keeping right on
house-cleaning; but as Mrs. O'Shaughnessy had arranged for us all to
come and sew that afternoon at a near-by house, we took our sewing and
clambered into the buckboard and set out.

We found Mrs. Bonham a pleasant little woman whose husband had earned
her pretty new machine by chewing tobacco. I reckon you think that is
a mighty funny method of earning anything, but some tobacco has tags
which are redeemable, and the machine was one of the premiums. Mrs.
Bonham just beamed with pride as she rolled out her machine. "I never
had a machine before," she explained. "I just went to the neighbors'
when I had to sew. So of course I wanted a machine awfully bad. So
Frank jest chawed and chawed, and I saved every tag till we got
enough, and last year we got the machine. Frank is chawin' out a clock
now; but that won't take him so long as the machine did."

Well, the "chawed-out" machine did splendidly, and we turned out
some good work that afternoon. I completed the blue bonnet which was
to be used as "best," and made a "splint" bonnet. Mrs. O'Shaughnessy
and Elizabeth did well