82 THE HOME OF A NATURALIST. 



upon her sisters, no one of them was particularly 

 anxious to appropriate the descending mantle. 



Nye was much older than her sisters ; Tribulation 

 (or Tribby, as she was usually called) came next ; 

 Wildie was third ; and Lalya last. These girls had 

 received Christian names at their baptism, but those 

 "with which I introduce them were familiar in the 

 family circle, and were more characteristic of the in- 

 dividuals than their real names. 



I do not know how much discussion had taken place 

 between Nye and her parents upon the advisability of 

 laying such grave responsibility on the weak shoulders 

 of the " growing girls." Our mother believed that 

 their education in housekeeping should come bit by 

 bit, but her ideas were frequently overruled by Nye. 

 Our father usually allowed Nye to do as she saw fit, 

 provided she did not interfere with his right to indulge 

 any or all of his young ones. I believe he gave 

 valuable advice, as well as hints, how to make house- 

 keeping pleasant to learners in the art ; but how far 

 his wishes were followed I cannot tell. That the 

 matter had been fully discussed, and the line of action 

 firmly decided upon, was evident to both Tribby and 

 Wildie when they were summoned to hear what the 

 home authorities proposed ; but Lalya had arrived at 

 a conclusion of her own. That sagacious young woman 

 had been prying about kitchens and store-closets since 

 she toddled out of her cradle, and she would probably 

 have been the most experienced hand of any ; but 

 when she put in her claim Nye snuffed it out by some 



