During August the weather became excessively hot. Grandma Sherwood
managed to keep the house cool by careful adjustment of awnings,
blinds, and screens, but out-of-doors it was stifling.

Midge and Molly did not mind the heat much, and played out of
doors all day, but Stella wilted under the sun's direct rays, and
usually her mother kept her indoors until the late afternoon.

But one day the intense heat became almost too much even for the
other two little girls. They had been romping in the barn, and
finally sat down in the hay, very red-faced and warm.

"What can we do," said Molly, "to get cooler?"

"Let's go down by the river," said Marjorie; "it must be cooler by
the water."

"Not a bit of it. The sun's too bright down there. Let's walk in
the woods."

"The woods are so hot; there isn't a bit of breeze in there."

In sheer idleness of spirit the girls got up and wandered
aimlessly about. Going down through the garden and across the
chicken-yard, they paused a moment by the old well to get a drink.

As they turned the windlass and drew up a full bucket of water,
while the empty one went down, Molly was seized with an
inspiration.