e of the floor, covered with a nice homespun linen cloth of
which the history had to be told; and the old blue crockery; and Betty
had cut just so many slices of bread, and brought just so many spiced
pears from the brown jar in the cellar-way, and found the nice little
square piece of cold corned beef which the hostess was so glad to have
on hand, and had looked at the potatoes two or three times where they
were baking in the stove oven in the shed-room where sister Sarah did
her summer cooking; all these and other things were done when Serena,
out of breath, and heated with hurrying, came in at the door.

"I'm going to finish since I have begun," said Betty proudly. "Now
please use this fan, Serena, and rest yourself, and I shall be ready in
a few minutes. I'm having a beautiful good time. Which pitcher shall I
take for the fresh water?" and out she went to the cool old well under
the apple-tree.

"Now was there ever such a darlin' gal," said sister Sarah, and Serena
nodded her head. "I dare say she does like to take holt. Miss Barb'ra
never was one that shirked at nothing," she had time to reply before
Betty came back and filled the tumblers and called the sisters to their
dinner.

"Sarah," said Serena decisively, as she saw how hard it was for sister
Sarah to move, "you've got to get Ann Sparks, ain't ye?"

And the lame woman answered Yes.

"I hate to give up, as you know, but one of my poor times is coming on,"
she said sadly.

The dinner was a great pleasure; Betty would do all the waiting, and
there was an unexpected dessert of a jelly cake which Serena had brought
with her, being mindful of her sister's fondness for it. Betty was
touched with the sisters' delight in being together, for in spite of
what Miss Sarah had said about their being contented apart, she knew
that the family had seen trouble in earlier times, and that Serena's
wages had been the main dependence while sister Sarah could not be happy
any where but in her own home.

There never were such delicious baked potatoes, and Betty humbly waited
until she was perfectly sure neither of the sisters wanted the last one
before she eagerly took it. It was delightful to be so hungry, as hungry
as one could be on shipboard! And when the gay little dinner was over
Betty made the hostess still play guest, and put on her apron again and
carried the plates to the shed kitchen, and found the dish pan and the
soap, and in spite of what anybody could say sh