again and cleared the
table. She took up the crumbs carefully and used the carpet-sweeper all
over the rug. She scraped and piled the dishes in nice, neat piles, and,
drawing the hot water, she washed and wiped them all nicely, and put
them away. She swept the kitchen, wiped off the tables, shut up the
range and washed out the dish-towels exactly as her grandmother had
taught in the lesson she gave on the kitchen. Then she went up-stairs.

Her grandmother, mother, and aunts had been afraid she would get too
tired with such a long day's work as she had planned to do, and they had
made their own beds, but they left Margaret's room for her for fear she
would be disappointed. She closed the windows first, and while the room
warmed she made the bathroom neat, washed and wiped out the tub and
scrubbed off the wash-stand.

Her room was put in beautiful order, to her closet and shoe-bag, and she
even stopped to put a clean cover on the bureau and dust nicely, to show
she had not forgotten a single thing. The halls and parlors had to be
thoroughly dusted now, but as none of them needed sweeping it did not
take very long, and there was still time to go to market. She got out
her jacket and hat, took her pencil, account-book, and kitchen pad, and
went out to see what was in the refrigerator. Here she had to stop, for
Bridget had gone away in such a hurry she had quite forgotten to wash
this out and arrange it properly, so on went the gingham apron again,
and out came all the things from the box. She gave it a good scrubbing
with warm water and borax, and put in a fresh dish of charcoal before
she put back the ice and dishes of food. Then she got her pad again, and
with her mother's help, planned the meals and wrote down what she must
buy.

The walk to the grocery and meat market was pleasant, and Margaret quite
enjoyed ordering the vegetables, chops, fruit, and fish, which were
needed, and watched to see if she was getting fresh things and good
measure, and wrote down the prices as though she had been an old
housekeeper instead of a new one.

When she got back again she found there was an hour until lunch, and she
at once wiped off the shelves in the pantry and put fresh papers on them
and arranged the tins in a more orderly way than she found them. By the
time she had finished her Pretty Aunt came out to help get luncheon, and
together they laid the table and got the meal. She put on her
waiting-apron again, when it was ready