"They must be a solid comfort, those girls," said Mrs. Salisbury,
leaning over to read certain pages with the others. "'First year,'"
she read aloud. "'Care of kitchen, pantry, and utensils--fire-
making--disposal of refuse--table-setting--service--care of
furniture--cooking with gas--patent sweepers--sweeping--dusting--
care of silver--bread--vegetables--puddings--'"

"Help!" said Sandy. "It sounds like the essence of a thousand
Mondays! No one could possibly learn all that in one year."

"It's a long term, eleven months," her father said, deeply
interested. "That's not all of the first year, either. But it's all
practical enough."

"What do they do the last year, Mother?"

Mrs. Salisbury adjusted her glasses.

"'Third year,'" she read obligingly. "'All soups, sauces, salads,
ices and meats. Infant and invalid diet. Formal dinners, arranged by
season. Budgets. Arrangement of work for one maid. Arrangement of
work for two maids. Menus, with reference to expense, with reference
to nourishment, with reference to attractiveness. Chart of suitable
meals for children, from two years up. Table manners for children.
Classic stories for children at bedtime. Flowers, their significance
upon the table. Picnics--'"

"But, no; there's something beyond that," Owen said. Mrs. Salisbury
turned a page.