fast as she expects, why, we'll lend her a
hand whenever she needs it."

"How on earth could you get all the lumber you need ready so quickly?
That's one thing I couldn't understand. The work is not so difficult to
manage, of course. But the wood--that's what's been puzzling me."

Jud grinned.

"Well, the truth is, ma'am, I expect to have a little argument about
that yet with a city chap that's building a house on the lake. I've got
the job of putting it up for him, and if it hadn't been for this fire
coming along, I'd have started work day before yesterday."

"Oh, and this is the lumber for his house?"

"You guessed it right, ma'am! He'll be wild, I do believe, because
there's no telling when I'll get the next lot of lumber through."

"You say the fire stopped you from going ahead with his house?"

"Yes. You see all of us had to turn out when it got so near to Cranford.
My house is safe, I do believe. I'm mighty scared of fire, ma'am, and
I've always figured on having things fixed so's a fire would have a
pretty hard time reaching my property. But of course I had to jump in
to help my neighbors--wouldn't be much profit about having the only
house left standing in town, would there?"

Eleanor laughed.

"I guess not!" she said. "But what a lucky thing for Mrs. Pratt that you
happened to have just the sort of wood she needed!"

"Oh, well, we'd have managed somehow. Of course, it makes it easier, but
we'd have juggled things around some way, even if this chap's plans
didn't fit her foundations. As it happens, though, they do. Old Tom
Pratt had a mighty well-built house here."

"Well, I'm quite sure that just as good a one is going up in its place."

Jud Harkness watched the work of getting out the last of the rubbish.
Then he went over to the cleared foundations, and in a moment he was
putting up the first of the four corner posts, great beams that looked
stout enough to hold up a far bigger house than the one they were to
support.

All morning the work went on merrily. As Eleanor had predicted, and
Bessie, too, there was plenty for the girls to do. The sun grew hotter
and hotter, and the men were glad of the cooling drinks that were so
liberally provided for them.

"This is fine!" said Jud Harkness, as he quaffed a great drink of
lemonade, well iced. "My, but it's a pleasure to work when it's made so
nice for you! I tell you, having these cool drinks here is worth an
extra hour's work, morning and afterno