"Why not all the meals?" Max suggested. "I hope you're not going
to be small about things, Jimmy."

"It ought to be easy," Jim persisted, ignoring the remark, "for
nine reasonably intelligent people to boil eggs and make coffee,
which is all we need for breakfast, with some fruit."

"Nine of us!" Dallas said wickedly, looking at Tom Harbison, who
was out of earshot, "Why nine of us? I thought Kit here,
otherwise known as Bella, was going to show off her housewifely
skill."

It ended, however, with Mr. Harbison writing out a lot of slips,
cook, scullery-maid, chamber-maid, parlor-maid, furnace-man, and
butler, and as that left two people over--we didn't count Aunt
Selina--he added another furnace-man and a trained nurse. Betty
Mercer drew the trained nurse slip, and, of course, she was
delighted. It seems funny now to look back and think what a
dreadful time she really had, for Aunt Selina took the grippe,
you know, that very day.

It was fate that I should go back to that awful kitchen, for of
course my slip said "cook." Mr. Harbison was butler, and Max and
Dal got the furnace, although neither of them had ever been
nearer to a bucket of coal than the coupons on mining stock. Anne
got the bedrooms, and Leila was parlor-maid. It was Jimmy who got
the scullery work, but he was quite crushed by this time, and did
not protest at all.