"The Old Hill House," on the north Connecticut line, seemed almost
too good to be true. It was an unpretentious country hotel, and
Nancy and Junior settled themselves in one of its hot, second-
story rooms feeling almost guiltily happy. Nancy kissed Bert good-
bye on the first Monday morning assuring him that she had NOTHING
to do! To go down to meals, and they were good meals, without the
slightest share in the work of preparing them, and to be able to
wear dainty clothes without the ruinous contact with the kitchen,
seemed too luxurious.

But she was not quite idle, none-the-less. Junior had to have his
morning bath, after breakfast, and while he was in the tub, his
mother washed six bottles in the hand-basin. Then, on a tiltish
alcohol stove, Nancy had to boil his barley for twenty endless
minutes. When the stove upset there was an additional half-hour's
hard work, but even when it did not, it was usually ten o'clock
before she went down to the kitchen for his two quarts of milk.
Then came the usual careful work with the "ouncer," and the six
filled bottles were put into Nancy's own small ice-box, to which
one of the maids was then supposed to bring a small piece of ice.
The left-over milk was taken back to the kitchen, and Nancy washed
the little saucepan in her hand-basin, and put away stove and
barley. By this time Junior was ready for another bottle, and when
he went to sleep his mother went down to the laundry with an arm-
full of small garments.

There was no other way. Labour was scarce in the village, and
Nancy could get no one of the housemaids to take upon herself this