How are _you_
progressing, Mancy?"

Patty stepped across the hall to her cook's room, and found its stout
occupant rather precariously perched on a chair, tacking up a picture.
She had evidently improved her time, for many other pictures were already
in place, and, what is unusual in either a public or private art-gallery,
the pictures were all exactly alike. They were large, very highly
coloured, unframed, and, in fact, were nothing more or less than
advertisements of a popular soap. The subject was a broadly-grinning old
coloured woman, washing clothes, that were already snow-white, in a sea
of soapsuds.

"For goodness' sake, Mancy!" exclaimed Patty. "Who said you might drive
tacks all over these new walls, and where did you get all those pictures
of yourself?"

"They does favour me, don't they, missy?" exclaimed Mancy, beaming with
delight, as she took another tack from her mouth, and pounded it into
place. "I got 'em from de grocer man, and co'se I has to tack 'em, else
how would dey stay up?"

"But you have so many of them."

"Laws, chile, only a dozen; youse got mo'n that on the libr'y wall."

"But ours are different; these are all alike."

"Co'se dey's all alike! I des nachelly gets tired of lookin' at different
pitchers. It 'stracts my head."

"I should think these would distract your head. I feel as if I were in a
kinetoscope."

"Does that mean art-gal'ry?"

"Not exactly; but tell me, Mancy, did you get all these pictures because
they looked like you? And was the grocer willing to give you so many?"

"Yas'm. But I 'spects I'll hab to confess a little about dat, Miss Patty.
You see, I dun tole him I was gwine t' work for yo', and dat's huccome he
guv 'em to me."

"That's all right, Mancy. After he gets that long order we made out this
morning, I'm sure he'll feel he was justified in favouring us; but get
down out of that chair. In the first place, you'll fall and break your
neck, and if you don't, you'll break the chair. Get down, and I'll tack
up the rest of your pictures."

"Thank you, missy, do; and I'll hand you the tacks. There's only six
more, anyhow. I 'llowed to have three over the mantel, and two over that
window, and one behind the door."

"But you can't see it; that door is usually open."

"No'm; but I'll know it's there jes' the same."

"All right; here goes, then," and soon Patty had the rest of the gaudy
lithographs tacked into their designated places.

"Now, Mancy," she said