Trundling the little express wagon with her basket of clothes along
the streets, Mandy finally reached her home where she did the washing
and ironing. Her children were waiting for her to come to supper. Liza
Ann, the oldest girl, had set the table, and Jim, the next oldest boy,
was out on the steps watching for his mother, just as Arnold and
Mirabell watched for their daddy.

"Is de table all set, honey?" asked Mandy of Liza Ann. "I hopes it is,
'cause I wants to put dese yeah clothes in to soak after I eats."

"De table is all sot," explained Liza Ann. "An' de meat an' taters is
all ready to hotten up."

"Dass good," sighed Mandy, for she was rather tired. "I'll jest leave
these yeah clothes till after supper," she went on, putting the basket
down in a corner of the room.

"Dear me! I wonder how much longer I shall have to stay here," thought
the Calico Clown, tucked away under the sheet and in the pile of
handkerchiefs. "Aren't they ever going to let me out? This is worse
than being in jail!"

But at last Mandy's supper was finished, and, with Liza Ann and Jim to
help her sort the clothes, she filled a tub with water and began. The
big sheet was taken off the top of the basket, and then Liza Ann
reached in and took up the bundle of handkerchiefs.

"You wants to be keerful o' dem, honey," said her mother. "Dem's de
bestest an' most special hankowitches o' Mirabell's pa, an' he's very
'tickler how dey is washed. Better let me have dem, honey."