Mary Jane was standing by her mother's dresser, a couple of mornings after
Aunt Effie left, when the cleaning woman came into the room to give it its
weekly cleaning.

"Why don't you help here, Mary Jane?" suggested Mrs. Merrill; "you could
dust my dresser things with your well hand and lay each thing, as you dust
it, on the bed. Then I'll shake the dresser cover and Amanda will put
the dust sheet on the bed and everything will be ready for cleaning in a
jiffy."

If there was one thing above another that Mary Jane loved to do, it was to
handle the pretty things on her mother's dresser. Ordinarily she wasn't
allowed to touch a thing there, so she quickly replied, "Yes, mother, I'd
love to help," and then took the dusting cloth Mrs. Merrill handed her and
set to work.

She dusted off the pin tray and the toilet water bottle and brushed the
fringe of the lamp shade--she knew exactly what to do because she had
watched her mother many times.

"There, now!" she said in a satisfied voice, "it's all ready for the cover
cloth. Can you put it on, 'Manda?" Amanda Rice was the good cleaning woman
who came every week to set the Merrill house in apple pie order; she and
Mary Jane were fast friends.

"Jest a little minite, honey," replied Amanda, "soon as ever I gets this
rain room clean."

Just off Mrs. Merrill's room was a tiny room which opened also into the