clean house, an' me an' Louise ain't had a minute we could dast call
our own, er we'd a been over t' seen yuh before now. Yuh must git
awful lonesome, comin' right out from the East where neighbors is thick.
Do lay off yer things!"

Della looked appealingly at J. G., who again came to the rescue.
Somehow he made himself heard long enough to explain their errand,
and to emphasize the fact that they were in a great hurry, and had
eaten dinner before they started from home. In his sister's opinion
he made one exceedingly rash statement. He said that he wished to
hire Mrs. Denson's sister for the summer. Mrs. Denson immediately
sent a shrill call for Louise.

Then appeared the Countess, tall, gaunt and muscular, with sallow skin
and a nervous manner.

"The front seat or walk!" declared Miss Whitmore, mentally, after a
brief scrutiny and began storing up a scathing rebuke for J. G.

"Louise, this is Miss Whitmore," began Mrs. Denson, cheerfully,
fortified by a fresh lungful of air. "They're after yuh t' go an'
keep house for 'em, an' I guess yuh better go, seein' we got the
house cleaned all but whitewashin' the cellar an' milk room an'
kals'minin' the upstairs, an' I'll make Bill do that, an' 't won't
hurt him a mite. They'll give yuh twenty-five dollars a month an'
keep yuh all summer, an' as much longer as his sister stays. I
guess yuh might as well go, fer they can't git anybody else that'll
keep things up in shape an' be comp'ny fer his sister, an' I b'lieve
in helpin' a neighbor out when yuh can. You go right an' pack up
yer trunk, an' don't worry about me--I'll git along somehow, now the