rueful.

"I am going to light the fire," pursued his brother;--"the next turfs,
you know, _we_ must get--you can tidy a bit. Look at that knife I gave
you to hold last night, and that wood--that's my fault though, and so
are those scraps by Granny's chair. What are you grubbing at that
rat-hole for?"

Johnnie raised his head somewhat flushed and tumbled.

"What do you think I have found?" said he triumphantly. "Father's
measure that has been lost for a week!"

"Hurrah!" said Tommy, "put it by his things. That's just a sort of
thing for a Brownie to have done. What will he say? And I say, Johnnie,
when you've tidied, just go and grub up a potato or two in the garden,
and I'll put them to roast for breakfast. I'm lighting such a bonfire!"

The fire was very successful. Johnnie went after the potatoes, and
Tommy cleaned the door-step, swept the room, dusted the chairs and the
old chest, and set out the table. There was no doubt he could be handy
when he chose.

"I'll tell you what I've thought of, if we have time," said Johnnie, as
he washed the potatoes in the water that had been set for Brownie. "We
might run down to the South Pasture for some mushrooms. Father said the
reason we found so few was that people go by sunrise for them to take
to market. The sun's only just rising, we should be sure to find some,
and they would do for breakfast."