id learn all the multiplication table, and all the
arithmetic I'm certain about now is: one baby and another baby makes two
babies, and twelve things make a dozen. I wouldn't remember that if it
wasn't for countin' the eggs and the napkins. But maybe Dan can help me
out with the chart."

"Don't depend on me," said Dan emphatically; "my arithmetic is about
like yours. I know how many pecks of corn make a bushel and how many
rods are in an acre, but that sort o' knowledge wouldn't be much help in
cuttin' out a woman's jacket." And early the next morning Sally returned
the chart, acknowledging that its mathematical complexities had baffled
both herself and Dan. "And besides," she added, "I don't believe there's
enough of my China silk to cut anything. I'll have to match it and get
some more the next time I go to town."

One after another the neighbors borrowed Mary's chart, and each came
back with the same story,--there was too much arithmetic about it, but
if they brought their goods some time this week or next, would not Mary
show them how to use it?

Of course she would. When did Mary Crawford ever refuse to help a
neighbor?

"Come whenever you please," said she cordially. "It will not be a bit of
trouble, and you'll find the chart is easy enough, after I've given you
a little help on it."

They came, sometimes singly, sometimes by twos and threes, and Mary
straightway found herself at the head of a dressmaking establishment
from which every business feature except the hard work had been
completely eliminated. The customers sometimes brought their children,
and often stayed in friendly fashion to dinner or supper, as the
exigencies of the work demanded a prolonged visit. Mary played the part
of the gracious hostess while she cut and tried on, and planned and
contrived and suggested, slipping away now and then to put another stick
of wood in the kitchen stove, or see that the vegetables were not
scorching, or mix up the biscuits, or make the coffee, or set the table,
using all her fine tact to keep the guest from feeling that she was
giving trouble.

Mary was social in her nature, and the pleasure of entertaining her
neighbors and her unselfish delight in bestowing favors kept her from
realizing at once the weight of the burden she had taken on herself. But
she was a housekeeper who rarely saw the sun go down on an unfinished
task, and when she took a retrospective view of the week, she was
dismayed by the large