It was remarkable how the list grew. For Elsie had been well brought up in ways of a household, and always had her regular duties with the daughters of the house. On Thursdays and Sundays when the cook went out she and Katharine and Bettina took turns in cooking the dinner, and each was proud of the specialties in the way of cookery in which she had learned to excel.

Now, as Elsie came to the other side of the store, where a genial-faced white-aproned butcher was tying up a luscious beef roast, she suddenly decided to yield to her desire to get dinner and leave it behind her in the lonesome house. There was a roast. It would be nothing at all to put that into the oven and roast it while she was doing other things. Then, when it was done, she could turn the gas low to keep it hot. And why not put some potatoes to roast beside it?

In a moment more she was bargaining for the roast and going excitedly around the store picking out various things: a head of lettuce, a few ripe tomatoes, a bottle of salad-oil, a can of corn, and another of beans to make succotash. How that dinner grew! Just as if she hadn’t a whole house to clean in one short afternoon!

“How about some lovely canned pumpkin?” suggested the smiling storekeeper, thumping down a can with a great golden sphere pictured on the label. “Like pumpkin pies? This is a new lot. Fine! Better try it.”

Elsie hesitated. Pumpkin pies were her specialty. She could make delectable ones. But could she possibly get time to make pie-crust? Pies would be so nice and pleasant to have on hand, two or three of them for hungry men; and she had reached the stage in her game where she desired above all things to make a pleasant spot for those three forlorn ones of her family to come home to. She inquired whether they could get her some milk; and upon finding it possible she abandoned all thought of being judicious and gave herself up to ordering. Eggs, sugar, flour, butter, lard, cinnamon, molasses, ginger, potatoes, bread, baking-powder—she would make some little biscuits too, if there was time—coffee. There seemed to be no end!

She suddenly discovered that she had but three minutes to get back to the house before her helpers arrived; and, seizing a bar of soap and scrubbing-brush, she went away with the smiling assurance that her order would be sent up at once.

The two black women entered the house in her wake with the air of two grim bronze censors who were about to discover for themselves what had long been an object of curiosity. They looked about alertly. Elsie was glad she had put a semblance of order into the rooms before she summoned assistance, and resolved not to let them go upstairs until she had first made some changes on the second floor.

“Now, we shall have to wash the dishes first and put this kitchen in order,” she said, speaking firmly, as if disordered kitchens like that were quite common affairs.

“Gracious! Mis’ Elsie, they have left a mess, haven’t they? I guess Rebecca wouldn’t know the place. It’s about a year since she went to work on the hill, isn’t it?”

So Rebecca had gone to work on the hill. Elsie did not answer the question. She kept steadily on, giving directions. There was a mountain of work to be done, and she meant to have it done in the swiftest way.

“Just light all those gas jets, and put on kettles of water to heat, and light the hot water back. It will take a good deal of hot water. While we are waiting for it, suppose you sort out the dishes and get them stacked neatly so there will be room for the dish-pans. Your daughter can empty out the water from the sink and get it ready to clean. Do you know how to fix that sink so it will work? I bought some lye.”

“Yes, sure, honey, lye’ll cut that grease. Lizzie, you get that ladle, and dip out the water into that pail.”

In a moment they were both interested in their work, and Elsie went upstairs to her room, slipped off her pretty dress, and donned an old gingham wrapper of her mother’s, which she found in a bureau drawer. Then she deliberately bundled up all the bedclothing from her father’s and brother’s beds, tied them together for future reference and carried them to the storeroom. By the time she had picked up the soiled clothes and hung up a few of the garments that were lying about, the grocery boy had come, and she went down to superintend the work below stairs. Dish-towels and dishcloths were a problem; but she solved it by having a few old napkins washed out and hung over the gas-range to dry, and putting the dishes to drain out of very hot rinsing-water while they waited.

It is marvelous what three smart people can accomplish in a short space of time when one of them is a good leader.