it was to clean the bathroom washstand; and she could do it beautifully,
too. Mrs. Merrill gave her a soft cloth and the box of cleaning powder and
she went to work. First she cleaned the soap dish; then she sprinkled a
little powder on her cloth (just as she had seen 'Manda do many a time) and
then she rubbed and rubbed the faucets till they shone so bright and clear
that she could see her hair ribbon in them. Next she sprinkled powder on
the stand and cleaned that; and last of all, she scoured the bowl. Then
she called to her mother (and this part was the most fun of all Mary Jane
thought) and watched while Mrs. Merrill inspected the work and said (as she
always did), "that's _beautiful_, Mary Jane! What a fine worker you are!"
Then she ran and put away the can of powder and the cloth and the job was
done.

This morning, just as the can was set in the closet where it belonged, the
door bell rang.

"Can you go, dear?" asked Mrs. Merrill. "I expect that's the delivery man
with your sewing."

Could Mary Jane go? Well, indeed she could! She rushed down the stairs as
fast as she could go and opened the front door in such a jiffy that the
delivery man jumped with surprise as she said, "Is it my sewing?"

"Search me," he answered, "it's a box." And he handed her the parcel.

"Oh, dear, then it isn't," said Mary Jane much disappointed; and she
turned and went slowly up the stairs--so slowly, that you would never have
guessed, from the time it took her to go up, that they were the same stairs
she had so quickly hurried down not two minutes before.