most cried when
she saw those lovely plumes and begged Nettie to come in and let her
fix up her hat proper and without charge. But Nettie just smiled that
happy little smile of hers and shook her head.

"Andy Smiley ain't the only one that's doing well. Johnny Peters got a
raise the other day and Claudie's treated herself to two dozen
beautiful linen dish towels. She says she's used flour sacks to wipe
dishes ever since she was six years old and she's always been hoping
she'd be rich enough some day to have real linen dish towels. So she's
got 'em. But they're so nice she hardly likes to use them, and the two
weeks she was sick and had to have her washing done at the laundry she
was mighty careful not to send them. She washed them herself right
there beside her bed, and her sick with rheumatism. They say Doc
Philipps used awful language, for he caught her right at it. But when
she explained he just blew his nose and never said another word. But
he talked to Johnny and Johnny went out and bought four dozen dish
towels such as Green Valley has never seen. Why, Sadie Dundry says
even the Ainslees haven't got dish towels like that. Doc says that if
he can coax some man to get Dolly Beatty good woolen stockings and keep
her from wearing those transparent things this winter he'll be almost
happy; says if Dolly should marry that widower he'll talk to him.

"All Elm Street's laughing at Alexander Sabin and Carrie and their
pump. That pump of theirs has been out of order all summer and
Carrie's been sick from nothing else but getting mad every time she'd
go out for a pail of water. Alexander promised to fix it but instead
of that he's repaired everybody else's all up and down Elm Street and
just can't seem to get started on his own. Carrie's going on a strike
to-morrow, ain't going to cook a mouthful of victuals, she says, until
that pump is fixed. The neighbors, much as they like Alexander, are
all on her side and have promised not to invite him in, even for a
drink of water from the pumps he's fixed. And his mother's away at
Barton, nursing her sick sister, so it looks as if Alexander will be
starved into fixing that pump of his.

"Debby Collins is going to give the minister one of her cats, the one
that has to have a cold potato for its lunch every day. She says it's
the most mannerly of all her cats and that she'd never think of giving
it to any one but the minister and not even to him but that now that
h