Foreword 



Here she worked all day long, in a leisurely 

 fashion, it is true, at first, being wise enough 

 to proportion her efforts to her strength. Be- 

 fore a month had passed she declared that she 

 felt like a new woman. She had an appetite 

 that would have done credit to a farm-hand. 

 She could go to bed now and sleep all night 

 long, and her sleep was full of restfulness. Her 

 face was brown, but its color was the promise 

 of returning health. Before the season was 

 ended she declared herself perfectly well. She 

 had forgotten that she had "nerves." That 

 summer in a garden she counts as one of the 

 important epochs of her life, because it warded 

 off the nervous prostration that had threatened 

 her. She believes that it was the best kind of 

 an outing for her, and every season since then 

 she has spent part of every pleasant day in 

 work which most women think themselves 

 unequal to. The woman who sits down out 

 of doors with folded hands, imagining that in 

 this way she is going to gain a good deal of 

 benefit, is pretty sure to be disappointed. The 

 fact is muscles need exercise if you would make 

 them strong, and the body that is wearied with 

 one kind of work must gain strength by activ- 



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