y
the prosperity that had come to them. It was a neat and cleanly home,
but, as of old, Deborah was doing most of the work herself. She would
not have had it otherwise.

"Ben thinks we ortn't to be doin' nothin' but settin' eroun' in silk
dresses an' readin' books an' gabbin' with comp'ny," she said. "Men
don't know how hard tis to git help that cleans good an' cooks decent.
Everybody feels so kind o' big an' inderpendent they won't stan' it to
be found fault with."

Her daughter, Mrs. Bache, and the latter's children were there.
Suddenly confronted by the problem of a strange lad coming into the
house to live with them, they were a bit dismayed. But presently their
motherly hearts were touched by the look of the big, gentle-faced,
homesick boy. They made a room ready for him on the top floor and
showed him the wonders of the big house--the library, the electrical
apparatus, the rocking chair with its fan swayed by the movement of the
chair, the new stove and grate which the Doctor had invented. That
evening, after an excellent supper, they sat down for a visit in the
library, when Jack suggested that he would like to have a part of the
work to do.

"I can sweep and clean as well as any one," he said. "My mother taught
me how to do that. You must call on me for any help you need."

"Now I wouldn't wonder but what we'll git erlong real happy," said Mrs.
Franklin. "If you'll git up 'arly an' dust the main floor an' do the
broom work an' fill the wood boxes an' fetch water, I'll see ye don't
go hungry."

"I suppose you will be going to England if the Doctor is detained
there," said Jack.

"No, sir," Mrs. Franklin answered. "I wouldn't go out on that ol'
ocean--not if ye would give me a million pounds. It's too big an' deep
an' awful! No, sir! Ben got a big bishop to write me a letter an'
tell me I'd better come over an' look a'ter him. But Ben knowed all
the time that I wouldn't go a step."

There were those who said that her dread of the sea had been a blessing
to Ben, for Mrs. Franklin had no graces and little gift for
communication. But there was no more honest, hard-working, economical
housewife in Philadelphia.

Jack went to the shop and was put to work next morning. He had to
carry beer and suffer a lot of humiliating imposition from older boys
in the big shop, but he bore it patiently and made friends and good
progress. That winter he took dancing lessons from the famous John
Trotter of