clean.

"If I ever come here to live," declared Thankful, with decision,
"there'll be some dustin' and sweepin' done, I know that."

Emily looked at her in surprise.

"Come here to live!" she repeated. "Why, Auntie, are you thinking of
coming here to live?"

Her cousin's answer was not very satisfactory. "I've been thinkin' a
good many things lately," she said. "Some of 'em was even more crazy
than that sounds."

The inside of the house having been thus thoroughly inspected they
explored the yard and the outbuildings. The barn was a large one, with
stalls for two horses and a cow and a carriage-room with the remnants of
an old-fashioned carryall in it.

"This is about the way it used to be in Cap'n Abner's day," said Captain
Obed. "That carryall belonged to your uncle, the cap'n, Mrs. Barnes.
The boys have had it out for two or three Fourth of July Antiques and
Horribles' parades; 'twon't last for many more by the looks of it."

"And what," asked Thankful, "is that? It looks like a pigsty."

They were standing at the rear of the house, which was built upon a
slope. Under the washshed, which adjoined the kitchen, was a rickety
door. Beside that door was a boarded enclosure which extended both into
the yard and beneath the washshed.