and Hannah, aged fourteen, twelve and ten. When the new baby came,
these three little girls did all the work, cooking the food and
carrying it four or five steps up from the kitchen to the mother's room
to let her see if it were nicely prepared and if the dinner-pails for
the men were properly packed.

Soon after this, Mr. Anthony remarked that one of the "spoolers" was
ill and there was no one to do her work. Susan and Hannah had spent
many hours watching the factory girls, and at once raised a clamor to
take the place of the sick "spooler." The mother objected, but the
father, who always encouraged his children in their independent ideas,
interceded and finally they were allowed to draw straws to decide which
should go, the winner to divide her wages with the loser. The lot fell
to Susan, who worked faithfully every day for two weeks and received
full wages, $3. Hannah, with her $1.50, bought a green bead bag, then
considered the crowning glory of a girl's wardrobe. Susan purchased
half a dozen pale-blue coffee cups and saucers, which she had heard her
mother wish for, and presented them to her with a happy heart.

The next summer the house was built, the finest in that part of the
country, a two-and-a-half-story brick with fifteen rooms and all the
conveniences then known. Quakers never celebrate Christmas, but the
Anthonys, having lived now for seven years in a Presbyterian
neighborhood, decided to give the children a Christmas party in the new
home. The walls had a beautiful hard finish, the woodwork was tinted
light green and the new flag-bottomed chairs were painted black.
Between the rough boots of the country youths and the chairs pushed or
tipped against the wall, both woodwork and plastering were almost
ruined, and the new house carried a lasting reminder of the
festivities.