ales. The village had intended to
have one, but District No. 5 was ahead, with the result that many of the
villagers joined in, glad to be rid of articles which had been stowed
away as useless.

At first it seemed incredible that any one would buy clothing which for
years had hung in closets, or been packed in trunks away from moths and
carpet bugs. But what had been done in other places could be done in
District No. 5, and never was a more heterogeneous mass of goods of
every description gathered together than was sent to the Rummage rooms
the day before the sale, and dumped upon tables and chairs and boxes,
until they nearly reached the rather low ceiling. There were old bonnets
and hats, and boots and shoes and dresses, and coats and trousers and
vests, and draperies and dishes, and stoves and chairs and tables and
bedsteads, with books and old magazines and toys.

There was Mrs. Biggs's foot-stove and warming-pan, which had been her
mother's, and a brass kettle, which had belonged to her grandmother, and
which Mrs. Parker, the lady from western New York, said was the most
valuable of all the articles sent. Antiques were sure to sell to relic
hunters, and a big price must be put upon them, she told the committee
who looked in dismay at the piles of goods as they came pouring in,
wondering how they were ever to bring anything like order out of the
confusion. They could not have done it without Mrs. Parker and Ruby Ann,
the latter of whom had obtained permission to dismiss school for two
days, and worked early and late. She had laid siege to the Crompton
House, from which most of the others shrank. The Colonel was a rather
formidable old fellow to meet, if he was in a mood with twinges in his
foot, while Mrs. Amy was scarcely well enough known to the people
generally to make them care to interview her.

On the strength of having been to school with her and known her since
"she was knee high," Mrs. Biggs offered to call upon her, but declined
seeing the Colonel, who, she heard, didn't believe in the Rummage. Ruby
Ann, however, was selected as the fittest person to see both, and had
undertaken the task with her usual assurance and energy. She found Amy a
fine subject. The idea of giving always appealed to her, and she began
at once to think of what she would send. The dresses she had worn as a
concert singer were hateful to her, and she brought them from a closet
and spread them upon chairs and tables, while Ruby looke