e got to
give these women and children nourishing food; they can't live on fresh
air alone."

"Praise be, fresh air costs nothing!"

"That's one thing we'll get free," laughed Roger. "Grandfather told me
to investigate and see what I could find out about finances and then
let him know. So I went in to see Mr. Watkins."

"And never told me," said Tom reproachfully.

"Of course not. All of you people were too sniffy. I told your father
what the plan was and what Grandfather had said. He thought it was
great. He's a corker, your father is."

Delia and Tom looked somewhat startled at this epithet describing their
parent, but Roger meant it to be complimentary, so they made no
remonstrance.

"He said right off that he could provide the women and children in any
numbers and that he'd select the ones that needed the change most and
would be most benefited by it."

"It's not hard to find those," murmured Delia.

"Then he said that he had certain funds that he could draw on for such
cases and that he'd be just as willing to pay the board for these women
and children at Rosemont as anywhere else, so that we could depend on a
small sum for each one of them from the treasurer of the chapel."

"That ought to cover the expense of their food," said Helen, "but we'll
have to have a housekeeper and a cook."

"That's what Aunt Louise said."

"Oho, you've been talking with Mother about it!" exclaimed Dorothy.

"I knew the Club would come to me sooner or later, it was only a matter
of time, so I made ready to answer some of the questions you'd be
asking me."

They laughed at Roger's preparedness, but nodded approvingly.

"Aunt Louise said she'd pay the wages of the cook, and then I toddled
off to Grandmother Emerson and told her I was planning to raid her
attic for old furniture, and asked her incidentally if she thought we
could run the thing without a housekeeper."

"I hope she said 'yes'," exclaimed Margaret, who liked to administer a
household.

"Grandmother was very polite; she said she thought the U. S. C. could
do anything it set out to do, but that there would be countless odds
and ends that would occupy us all summer long--"

"Like making a continuous stream of furniture!"

"And going marketing and doing errands."

"And mowing the grass."

"And playing games with the kids."

"O, a thousand things would crop up; we never could be idle; and so she
thought we'd better have a responsible woman as hous