all day. Grannie opened the door of the stove now and looked
in.

"Shall I, or shall I not, put on an extry shovelful of coals?" she said
to herself; "an extry shovelful will keep the heat in all night; I have
a mind to, for I do perish awful when the heat goes out of the kitchen;
but there, it would be sinful waste, for coals are hard to get. Ef
that doctor were right, and it were really writers' cramp, I mightn't
be able to earn any more money to buy coals; but of course he aint
right; how silly of me to be afraid of what's impossible! Yes, I'll
put on the coals. Thank the good Lord, this feather-stitching means a
real good income to us; and now that Ally can't bring in her eight
shillings a week, I must work extry hard, but it's false savin' to
perish of cold when you have it in you to earn good money, so here
goes."

Grannie filled a very tiny shovel, flung the precious coals into the
opening of the stove, shut it up again, and, taking the cambric from
the cupboard in the wall, sat down with needle and thread just where
the full light of the lamp could best fall on her work. Her right hand
ached and ached--it not only ached, but burned; the pain seemed to go
up her arm; it sometimes gave her a sort of sick feeling.

"Of course it's rheumatis," she said to herself. "Well now, what a
silly I am! Why don't I try the liniment? There, I'll rub some on
afore I begin to work."

She took the bottle from the mantelpiece, opened it, and poured a
little of the mixture into the palm of her left hand. The liniment was
hot and comforting; it smarted a little, and relieved the dull inside
pain. Grannie found herself able to move her thumb and forefinger
without much difficulty.

"There!" she said; "it's stiffening of the j'ints I'm getting. This
liniment is fine stuff. I must be very careful of it, though; why, I'm
a sight better already. Now then, first to wash my 'ands, and then to
unpick the feather-stitching poor Ally did to-day. Poor darlin', she
couldn't be expected to do it proper, but I'll soon set it right."

Mrs. Reed poured some warm water from the tap into the basin beneath,
washed her old hands very carefully, dried them well, and sat down in
quite a cheerful mood in her warm, snug, bright little kitchen to
unpick Alison's work. The liniment had really eased the pain. She was
able to grasp without any discomfort the very finely pointed scissors
she was obliged to use, and after an hour and a hal