re
than a white one, if it is to be kept shining bright. You can scrub it
out with gasoline if it seems greasy, then with vinegar, if it is dark,
then with metal polish, and so on; zinc tubs are really difficult to
care for. A better way is to paint it all over with two coats of white
paint and when it is dry enamel it. It costs only a dollar to do it, and
it does save so much work; besides, a white tub always looks best of
all. Now we will do the wash-stand."

They took off the soap-dish and tooth-brush mug and bottles of tooth
powder, because, as the aunt explained, one must always wipe under
things, not around them. The marble slab and bowl were scrubbed and
dried, and the mugs and soap-dish washed, wiped, and replaced. After
this they cleaned the closet by pulling the handle and letting the water
run while they put in the long-handled brush of twigs and brushed out
every inch of china, even down into the pipe as far as possible.
Margaret was told that when she used ammonia in the tub she must put
some in the closet, too, and once or twice a week a little disinfectant
must be poured down to keep the pipe perfectly clean. The woodwork was
wiped off with a cloth kept for that purpose, and then they turned to
the polishing of the faucets and pipes.

This was hard, but as Margaret and her aunt both worked it made it
easier. They put some polishing paste on a flannel and rubbed and rubbed
till they could see the metal shining through the paste; then they wiped
it off with a dry cloth. "If this was all rubbed a little every single
day," said the aunt, "it would never be such hard work. I should say
that this nickel had been just a little bit neglected lately, but see
how bright we have made it! Now for the oilcloth on the floor."

They set the hamper and a chair out into the hall, and Margaret went to
the kitchen for a basin of milk with a little warm water in it. Out of
the cupboard she brought the Japanese seat she had learned she must
always use when she got down on the floor, partly to save her dress, and
partly because there was a painful disease called sometimes "housemaid's
knee," which one could get by kneeling and working on a hard floor with
nothing underneath one. When she was all ready her aunt wrung out the
cloth for her in the milk, and told her to begin at one edge and work
straight across the floor, wiping every part well, but especially under
the tub and wash-stand, because those were likely to need it m