blue jug filled with white lilacs, and the big punch-bowl on the
sideboard was crowded with roses. There were antlers over the doors, and
the pictures on the walls were of game and fish, and on the floor was a
bear-skin, which was one of the rector's trophies.

Lois stood by a side-table which held a great pan of hot water; she had
a long-handled mop in her hand and a soft towel over her arm, and she
washed and wiped some wine-glasses with slender twisted stems and
sparkling bowls, and then put them on their shelves in the corner closet,
where they gleamed and glittered in the sunshine, pouring through the
open window.

She did not work as fast now, for things were nearly in order, and she
dreaded having nothing to do; her aunt, Mrs. Dale, would have said she
was dawdling, but Miss Deborah Woodhouse, who had come over to the
rectory early to see if she could be of use, said haste was not genteel,
and it was a pleasure to see a young person who was deliberate in her
movements.

"But you must let me help you, my dear," she added, taking off her
gloves, and pulling the fingers straight and smooth.

"Indeed, Miss Deborah, there is nothing more to do," Lois answered,
smiling, as she closed the brass-hinged doors of the corner closet.

"Dear me!" said the other absently, "I do trust dear Gifford's
china-closet will be kept in proper order. Your shelves do credit to
Jean's housekeeping; indeed they do! And I hope he'll have a maid who
knows how to put the lavender among the linen; there's always a right and
a wrong way. I have written out directions for her, of course, but if