THE GRAND-GIRLS 311 



and I also wish that the $1200 were twice as 

 much as it is." 



Time was running so smoothly with us that 

 we " knocked on wood " each morning for fear 

 our luck would break. 



The cottage which had once served as a tem- 

 porary granary, and which had been moved to 

 the building line two years before, was now 

 turned into an overflow house against the time 

 when Jack should come home for the winter vaca- 

 tion. Polly had decided to have just as many 

 as we can hold, and some more," and as the 

 heaviest duties fell upon her, the rest of us could 

 hardly find fault. The partitions were torn out 

 of the cottage, and it was opened up into one room, 

 except for the kitchen, which was turned into a 

 bath-room. Six single iron beds were put up, 

 and the place was made comfortable by an old- 

 fashioned, air-tight, sheet-iron stove with a great 

 hole in the top through which big chunks and 

 knots of wood were fed. This stove would keep 

 fire all night, and, while not up to latter-day 

 demands, it was quite satisfactory to the warm- 

 blooded boys who used it. The expense of over- 

 hauling the cottage was $214. Tom, Kate, and 

 the grand-girls were to be with us, of course, and 

 so were the Kyrles, Sir Tom, Jessie Gordon, Flor- 

 ence, Madeline, and Alice Chase. Jack was to 

 bring Jarvis and two other men besides Frank 

 and Phil of last year's party. 



The six boys were bestowed in the cottage, 



