ven painted. Store
fronts, too, were treated to a coat or two of paint. Show windows were
cleaned and almost every store redressed its display of goods.

Trees were trimmed, and some of the tottering ones cut down entirely.
There were still plenty of shade trees on the steep High Street.

It was Janice who urged Hopewell Drugg to refurbish his store--painting
it inside and out, rebuilding the porch, and erecting a long hitch-rail
to attract farmers' trade.

"Of course you cannot afford it, Mr. Drugg," said the girl. "That is,
it seems as though every dollar you spend is putting Lottie back. But
'nothing ventured, nothing gained.' You must throw out sprats to catch
herring. To get together the money that specialist demands to treat
Lottie's eyes, you must endeavor to increase your trade. Make the
store just as attractive as possible. That's business, I believe.
Daddy would say so, I am sure."

Hopewell allowed himself to be convinced. There was not a store in
town as attractive as Drugg's, after Clean-Up Day. The whole of
Poketown, indeed, was in a new dress. The trees were just budding out
nicely, there was a breath of lilac in the air, and the lawns were
raked clean and showed a velvety, green sheen that was delightful to
the eye.

The old Town Hall had been repainted. Had it not been for the
opposition of Elder Concannon, the young folks would have collected
money for the repainting of the Union Church. However, they cleaned
everything around it--yard and all--till it was as spick and span as it
could be. And the burial ground in the rear of the church was made
beautiful, too. The edges of the paths were trimmed, the paths
themselves raked, and all the tottering headstones were set up straight.

Gates were rehung and fences straightened all over town. A smell of
fresh paint rivaled the scent of the bursting lilac blooms. Never had
Poketown been so busy.

The cleaning-up process went on inside the houses as well as out. Of
course, among pure-blooded New English housewives, such as the majority
of Poketown matrons were, there were few drones. They prided
themselves on their housekeeping.

Earlier than usual the carpets went out on the lines, the curtains at
chamber and sitting-room windows were renewed, there was a smell of
soap and water in every entry, as one pushed the door open, and
altogether Poketown was generally turned out of doors, aired, dusted,
and brought back again into thorough