kitchen, Debby always leaves the kettle on, and we can use
her saucepan, and I know where the sugar is, and we 'll have a grand
time.' "In we went, and fell to work very quietly. It was a large,
open fire-place, with the coals nicely covered up, and the big kettle
simmering on the hook. We raked open the fire, put on the saucepan, and
in it the best of our plums, with water enough to spoil them. But we did
n't know that, and felt very important as we sat waiting for it to boil,
each armed with a big spoon, while the sugar box stood between us ready
to be used.

"How slow they were, to be sure! I never knew such obstinate things, for
they would n't soften, though they danced about in the boiling water,
and bobbed against the cover as if they were doing their best.

"The sun began to get low, we were afraid Debby would come down, and
still those dreadful plums would n't look like sauce. At last they began
to burst, the water got a lovely purple, we put lots of sugar in, and
kept tasting till our aprons and faces were red, and our lips burnt with
the hot spoons.

"'There 's too much juice,' said Nelly, shaking her head wisely. 'It
ought to be thick and nice like mamma's.' "'I 'll pour off some of the
juice, and we can drink it,' said I, feeling that I 'd made a mistake in
my cooking.

"So Nelly got a bowl, and I got a towel and lifted the big saucepan
carefully off. It was heavy and hot, and I was a little afraid of it,
but did n't like to say so. Just as I began to pour, Debby suddenly
called from the top of the stairs, 'Children, what under the sun are you
doing?' It startled us both. Nelly dropped the bowl and ran. I dropped
the saucepan and did n't run, for a part of the hot juice splashed upon
my bare feet, and ankles, and made me scream with dreadful pain.

"Down rushed Debby to find me dancing about the kitchen with a great
bump on my forehead, a big spoon in my hand, and a pair of bright purple
feet. The plums were lying all over the hearth, the saucepan in the
middle of the room, the basin was broken, and the sugar swimming about
as if the bowl had turned itself over trying to sweeten our mess for us.

"Debby was very good to me, for she never stopped to scold, but laid
me down on the old sofa, and bound up my poor little feet with oil and
cotton wool. Nelly, seeing me lie white and weak, thought I was dying,
and went over to the neighbor's for Aunt Betsey, and burst in upon the
old ladies sitting primly at,