grasped eagerly at the opportunity.

"I know your bread will be good," she said, "and you may count on me
as a regular customer."

Lilian thought she had enough on hand for a first attempt and went
home satisfied. On her way she called at the grocery store with an
order that surprised Mr. Hooper. When she told him of her plan he
opened his eyes.

"I must tell my wife about that. She isn't strong and she doesn't like
cooking."

After dinner Lilian went to work, enveloped in a big apron, and
whipped eggs, stoned raisins, stirred, concocted, and baked until
dark. When bedtime came she was so tired that she could hardly crawl
upstairs; but she felt happy too, for the day had been a successful
one.

And so also were the days and weeks and months that followed. It was
hard and constant work, but it brought its reward. Lilian had not
promised more than she could perform, and her customers were
satisfied. In a short time she found herself with a regular and
growing business on her hands, for new customers were gradually added
and always came to stay.

People who gave parties found it very convenient to follow Mrs.
Saunders's example and order their supplies from Lilian. She had a
very busy winter and, of course, it was not all plain sailing. She had
many difficulties to contend with. Sometimes days came on which
everything seemed to go wrong--when the stove smoked or the oven
wouldn't heat properly, when cakes fell flat and bread was sour and
pies behaved as only totally depraved pies can, when she burned her
fingers and felt like giving up in despair.

Then, again, she found herself cut by several of her old
acquaintances. But she was too sensible to worry much over this. The
friends really worth having were still hers, her mother's face had
lost its look of care, and her business was prospering. She was
hopeful and wide awake, kept her wits about her and looked out for
hints, and learned to laugh over her failures.

During the winter she and her mother had managed to do most of the
work themselves, hiring little Mary Robinson next door on especially
busy days, and now and then calling in the assistance of Jimmy Bowen
and his hand sled to carry orders to customers. But when spring came
Lilian prepared to open up her summer campaign on a much larger scale.
Mary Robinson was hired for the season, and John Perkins was engaged
to act as carrier with his express wagon. A summer kitchen was boarded
in in the backyard, an