cerning their affairs.
For by common consent it was not Mulberry Court etiquette to borrow
without stating exactly the service required of the article in
question. When, for instance, you sent an emissary to ask for the
O'Dowds' ironing board you said:

"Can Ma take the ironing board so she can iron out Mary's dress 'cause
she's got to have her white one clean to speak a piece in at school."

Then the O'Dowds knew exactly why the ironing board was needed and just
how necessary it was to have it, and not only did they promptly deliver
it up, but the next time you met them they inquired how Mary got on
speaking her piece and whether she was frightened or not. In this way a
friendly interest was created.

To have borrowed the ironing board and not have detailed the
accompanying facts would have been a heinous crime and would have
exempted any person from loaning it. Under such circumstances it would
have been perfectly excusable to send back word by the messenger:

"Mrs. O'Dowd is sorry but she is using the ironing board herself
to-day."

But when Mary was to speak a piece, that was quite a different matter.

Mulberry Court had a pride in its tenants.

Mary McGregor certainly must not appear in a dress that had not been
freshly ironed. Why, the people on the street would think Mulberry
Court bereft of all sense of propriety! No, indeed. Mary McGregor must
make a fitting showing if the whole house had to turn to to achieve the
desired result. And if by any chance her family could not iron her
dress, why somebody else must. Mulberry Court would make a proper
showing no matter at what personal sacrifice.

And the same self-respecting spirit came to the fore on all great
occasions. When the Sullivan's baby was christened was not Mrs.
Sullivan arrayed in Mrs. McGregor's bonnet, Mrs. O'Dowd's coat, and
Mrs. Murphy's skirt, that she might make a truly genteel impression?
There was the dignity of Mulberry Court to be maintained.

Thus it followed that borrowing was no unusual act and therefore when
on Sunday morning Mrs. O'Dowd presented herself at the McGregor's door
and announced that she was going to have a chowder of canned corn for
dinner and wanted the can opener, beyond a conversation as to the
nourishment corn chowder contained; the brand of canned goods one
bought; the price of it per can; the quantity of milk required and the
price of that milk per quart, nothing further was said, unless it was,
perhaps, to me