of the establishment: time enough for breakfast, time enough for dinner,
time enough for supper, time enough for bed, time enough for getting up,
time enough for mending torn garments; surely, above all things, time
enough for learning. To judge by the manner in which the family at The
Dales went on, life was to last for ever and a day. They never hurried;
they put things off when it pleased them; they stopped in the middle of
one pursuit and turned to something else when the fancy took them; they
were unruffled by the worries of life; they were, on the whole, gay,
daring, indifferent. There was no money--or very little--for the future
of these girls; they were absolutely uneducated; they were all but
unclothed, and their food was poor and often insufficient. Nevertheless
they were fairly happy. "Let well alone" was also their motto. "Never may
care" was another. As to the rush and toil and strain of modern life,
they could not even comprehend it. The idea of not being able to put off
an engagement for a week, a month, or a year seemed to them too
extraordinary to be believed. They were too young, too healthy, too happy
to need to kill time; for time presented itself to them with an agreeable
face, and the hours were never too long.

But although they were so indifferent to weighty matters, they had their
own enthusiasms, and in their idle way they were busy always and forever.
To have, therefore, a person like Aunt Sophia put suddenly into the
middle of their gay and butterfly lives was something which was enough to
madden the eight healthy girls who lived at The Dales. Aunt Sophia was,
in their opinion, all crotchets, all nervousness, all fads. She had no
tact whatsoever; at least, such was their first opinion of her. She put
her foot down on this little crotchet, and pressed this passing desire
out of sight. She brought new rules of life into their everyday
existence, and, what is more, she insisted on being obeyed. With all
their cleverness they were not half so clever as Aunt Sophia; they were
no match for this good lady, who was still young at heart, who had been
highly educated, who was full of enthusiasm, full of method, and full of
determination. Aunt Sophia brought two very strong essentials with her to
The Dales, and there was certainly little chance of the girls getting the
victory over her. One thing which she brought was determination, joined
to authority; the other thing was money. With these two weapons