t
care to be troubled by the necessities of his relations.

"We'll get along!" was Mr. Sherwood's repeated and cheerful statement.
"Never say die! Hope is our anchor! Fate shall not balk us! And all the
other copy-book maxims."

But it was Mrs. Sherwood and Nan who managed to save and scrimp and
be frugal in many infinitesimal ways, thus making their savings last
marvelously.

Nan gave up her entire Saturdays to household tasks. She insisted on
that, and urged the curtailment of the weekly expense by having Mrs.
Joyce come in to help but one day.

"I can iron, Momsey, and if I can't do it very well at first, I can
learn," declared the plucky girl. "And, of course, I can sweep. That's
good for me. Our physical instructor says so. Instead of going to the
gym on Saturday, I'll put in calisthenics and acrobatic stunts with a
broom and duster."

She was thorough, too. She could not have been her father's daughter
without having that virtue. There was no "lick and a promise" in Nan
Sherwood's housekeeping. She did not sweep the dust under the bureau,
or behind the door, or forget to wipe the rounds of the chairs and the
baseboard all around the rooms.

Papa Sherwood, coughing in the lower hall as the dust descended from
above, declared she went through the cottage like a whirlwind. It was
not as bad as that, but her vigorous young arms wielded the broom with
considerable skill.

One Saturday, with every other room swept but the front hall, she closed
the doors into that, and set wide open the outer door. There was more
snow on the ground now; but the porch was cleaned and the path to the
front gate neatly dug and swept. The tinkle of sleigh bells and the
laughter of a crowd of her school friends swept by the corner of Amity
Street. Nan ran out upon the porch and waved her duster at them.

There she stood, smiling out upon her little world for a minute. She
might not see Amity Street, and the old neighbors, many weeks longer. A
half-promise of work from the Chicago machine shop boss had reached Mr.
Sherwood that morning by post. It seemed the only opening, and it
meant that they would have to give up the "dwelling in amity" and go to
crowded Chicago to live. For Momsey was determined that Papa Sherwood
should not go without her.

Nan came back into the hall and began to wield the broom again. She
could not leave the door open too long, for it was cold outside and the
winter chill would get into the house. They had