"Well, darling, you may try, though I am doubtful as to the result of
the experiment. I will tell Mrs. Hall to put off writing to Wisconsin
for a month, and we will see.

"Poor child, anything to take her thoughts off herself!" he muttered, as
he walked down stairs. "She'll be glad enough to give the thing up by
the end of the month."

But Papa was mistaken. At the end of a month Katy was eager to go on.
So he said,

"Very well--she might try it till Spring."

It was not such hard work as it sounds. Katy had plenty of quiet
thinking-time for one thing. The children were at school all day, and
few visitors came to interrupt her, so she could plan out her hours and
keep to the plans. That is a great help to a housekeeper.

Then Aunt Izzie's regular, punctual ways were so well understood by the
servants, that the house seemed almost to keep itself. As Katy had said,
all Debby and Bridget needed was a little "telling" now and then.

As soon as breakfast was over, and the dishes were washed and put away,
Debby would tie on a clean apron, and come up stairs for orders. At
first Katy thought this great fun. But after ordering dinner a good many
times, it began to grow tiresome. She never saw the dishes after they
were cooked; and, being inexperienced, it seemed impossible to think of
things enough to make a variety.

"Let me see--there is roast beef--leg of mutton--boiled chicken," she