pretty curl of smoke rising from its chimney, the little sisters sitting
in the sunshine, green hills and newly planted fields far and near, a
brook dancing through the orchard, birds singing in the elm avenue, and
all the world as fresh and lovely as early summer could make it.

"Don't you think it's pretty nice here?" asked Bab, as his eye came back
to them after a long look, which seemed to take in everything,
brightening as it roved.

"Just the nicest place that ever was. Only needs a horse round somewhere
to be complete," answered Ben, as the long well-sweep came up with a
dripping bucket at one end, an old grind-stone at the other.

"The Judge has three, but he's so fussy about them he wont even let us
pull a few hairs out of old Major's tail to make rings of," said Betty,
shutting her arithmetic, with an injured expression.

"Mike lets _me_ ride the white one to water when the Judge isn't 'round.
It's such fun to go jouncing down the lane and back. I do love horses!"
cried Bab, bobbing up and down on the blue bench to imitate the motion
of white Jenny.

"I guess you are a plucky sort of a girl," and Ben gave her an approving
look as he went by, taking care to slop a little water on Mrs. Puss, who
stood curling her whiskers and humping up her back at Sancho.

"Come to breakfast!" called Mrs. Moss, and for about twenty minutes
little was said as mush and milk vanished in a way that would have
astonished even Jack the Giant-killer with his leather bag.

"Now, girls, fly round and get your chores done up; Ben, you go chop me
some kindlings; and I'll make things tidy. Then we can all start off at
once," said Mrs. Moss, as the last mouthful vanished, and Sancho licked
his lips over the savory scraps that fell to his share.

Ben fell to chopping so vigorously that chips flew wildly all about the
shed, Bab rattled the cups into her dish-pan with dangerous haste, and
Betty raised a cloud of dust "sweeping-up," while mother seemed to be
everywhere at once. Even Sanch, feeling that his fate was at stake,
endeavored to help in his own somewhat erratic way,--now frisking about
Ben at the risk of getting his tail chopped off, then trotting away to
poke his inquisitive nose into every closet and room whither he followed
Mrs. Moss in her "flying round" evolutions; next dragging off the mat so
Betty could brush the door-steps, or inspecting Bab's dish-washing by
standing on his hind-legs to survey the table with a critica