mestic science teacher could only see this!" groaned Helen.

The room was larger than either of the others, and there was plenty of
room for two or three persons, at least for a couple of children and one
grown person if she was not so very large. There was a little gas stove
complete in every way, a cabinet, and a porcelain top table, as well as
a white sink and draining board. The floor was covered with blue and
white linoleum, and the walls were papered with blue and white tiled
paper with a border of fat little Dutch ships around the top. Little
white Dutch curtains hung at the windows.

"Oh my! Oh my!" sighed Helen. "This is the best of all! The other rooms
you can only sit in and enjoy, but here you can really _do_ things and
learn to be useful."

She opened a little cupboard door and discovered all sorts of pans and
kettles made of white enamel with blue edges.

"I never come out here at all," said Rosanna.

"Perhaps they are afraid you will burn yourself," suggested Helen.

"No, the stove is a safe kind, made specially for children's playhouses,
but I don't know how to cook, so I don't play in the kitchen at all.
Make-believe dinners are no fun."

Helen gave a happy sigh.

"Well, _I_ can cook," she said, "and I will teach you how."

"Won't that be fun!" said Rosanna. She suddenly threw her arms around
Helen's neck and kissed her. "Oh, Helen, I am so happy," she said.

CHAPTER IV

After Helen had looked the wonderful kitchen over to her heart's
content, the children went back to the pretty living-room, where they
examined the books in the little bookcase, and then each carrying a
comfy wicker chair, went out on the wide porch. A big grass rug was
spread there, and there was a little porch swing and a wicker table.

Rosanna commenced to tell Helen about herself. She told much more than
she intended, and by the time she had finished, Helen knew more about
her new friend than Rosanna's own grandmother had ever guessed.

Helen herself was a very happy, busy little girl, with wise and loving
parents. They were poor, and Mr. Culver had very wisely taken the first
position that offered as soon as he came home from France and found that
the firm he had formerly worked for had given his position to some one
else, a man much less capable than Mr. Culver and who worked willingly
for wages that Mr. Culver did not feel like accepting. Yes, they were
poor, but as Mr. Culver said, "Just you wait, folkses;