, but this time she sat down with
the family because her mother said she must surely be tired.

Her grandmother insisted on helping with the dishes, and watched with
pride when afterwards Margaret poured boiling water down the sink after
laying a bit of washing-soda over the drain, and scrubbed off all her
tables until they shone, and blacked her range until it was like a
mirror. "You surely are going to make a wonderful housekeeper!" she
said.

Margaret laughed as she took off her apron. "But I just _love_ to do
things, grandmother," she replied, as she went up-stairs.

Bridget always found that she had an hour or two to rest in the
afternoon after her work was done, and so did the little girl, but after
she had taken a walk and read in a new book for a time, she suddenly
remembered that the silver needed cleaning, and she might surprise the
family at dinner with it all polished. She got it out and rubbed it
well, delighted to see how quickly it grew bright. As she finished her
mother came into the kitchen with her Other Aunt, and said they meant to
help get the dinner.

The mother looked around her. "Everything is very nice," she said. "The
sink is clean, and so is the pantry, and so are all the dishes. The
range is bright; the dish-towels are washed; the dining-room is in
order. I noticed as I came through the other rooms that the bedrooms,
bathroom, and parlors have all been looked after to-day, too. Margaret,
I do believe you are as good a housekeeper as I am already."

"Well," said the little girl, thoughtfully, "I didn't sweep any to-day,
nor wash any windows; I didn't shine the faucets in the bathroom,
either, because I forgot them till this minute. I didn't have time to
oil the floors in the hall this morning-- I only brushed it up; and I
haven't looked at the cellar or the attic at all."

Her mother laughed. "But nobody does the whole house from top to bottom
every single day," she said. "We sweep twice a week, only, and we wash
windows when they need washing, not all the time. The attic and cellar
are to be kept in order, but not put in order daily, you know. The
really good housekeeper does a little putting to rights all the time,
and every day she takes a certain part of the house and makes it clean,
but she never tries to do more in one day than belongs to that one. To
know how to keep a house nice is quite as necessary as to know how to
make it so. The most important thing of all is knowing what you