five-year-old-children. The girls blushed and laughed, and Evelyn really
enjoyed their confusion.

They all drove off, waving their handkerchiefs at Evelyn and the boys.

"Fred," said Evelyn, "they are plain, good, honest folks. The mother is
a good woman and the girls do their share of the household work at home.
Their hands show it."

"Yes, and yet the old man is able to keep good servants for them, for
black servants are cheap down in this region, and by the way, dear, when
you go up to Crabtree again, you must start an inquiry for a good
colored cook among your lady friends. Tell them you want a good one, who
understands washing and ironing and all about cooking. At present we
boys do all the cooking down here and we send our laundry up to
Crabtree, where there are only three Chinamen to the whole town."

"Fred, let me do the cooking at present," she asked.

"Oh, yes, it's fun for you now; but you would get tired at it after a
while."

"I'll make you boys do the rough work. When you go out to hunt in the
woods you go to sleep on the ground on blankets and do your own cooking,
so it certainly won't hurt you to rough it a little now."

"No, it never did hurt us; but Terry and I know that there are at least
a score of young ladies in Crabtree who want to come down here out of
curiosity and for a change. We are going to have two additional rooms
built onto the house so that the two bedrooms that are now furnished can
be given up to them and we boys will occupy the annex."

That evening they sat up quite late talking and planning.

"See here, Fred," said Terry, "we have no musical instrument on the
ranch, so sister had better go in to-morrow and buy a piano."

"Oh, my! how extravagant you boys are becoming," she exclaimed. "The
idea of a piano on a ranch would certainly astonish the natives."

"Yes, so it would, but for all that we've got to have it."

"Well, one of you must go in after it, for I won't."

"I'll go," said Terry, "for a good piano we must have; and, besides
that, we must have a good violin, a good flute, and---"

"A bass drum," Evelyn interrupted.

"Yes," added Fred, "and a hurdy-gurdy."

The next morning Evelyn, was up before either of the boys, for as soon
as she heard the little chickens peeping around she sprang up, put on a
wrapper and went out to see them and feed them.

The dairyman was up feeding and milking the cows. Evelyn looked on for a
while, and finally took up a pail and