So Ruth filled the new pail with hot water into which she carefully poured a little ammonia. She took the wire racks out of the refrigerator and scrubbed each one. Then she scrubbed out the whole inside of the refrigerator, letting the hot ammonia-water run off down the pipe into the drip-pan. "Now I'm going to get some ice from the other house," she said, triumphantly. "Not yet, dear," said Mother. "When you have just scrubbed it with hot water, you must let it cool, or your ice will all melt. But I'm glad to see that you know how to keep a refrigerator sweet and clean. It ought to be cleaned this way every week, and if anything is spilled in the refrigerator, it ought to be washed up at once-not left to get sour and smelly. Besides, the pipe is likely to get clogged if you don't." "Mrs. Frost had an awful time with her refrigerator last week," said Paul. "Robert went to it to get some grape-juice for himself and me, and we forgot and left the door open. And what do you think that sly old Billiken did? He got in and ate up a whole platter of cold chicken and then he heard Mrs. Frost coming and jumped and upset the mayonnaise and a bottle of cream. Mrs. Frost never found out about it until next day when she went to get breakfast. She was awfully cross at Billiken and at Robert, too-she said it took her an hour to get it cleaned up, because the mayonnaise all got down the pipe. She had to pour down boiling water and ammonia to dissolve the grease. While Paul had been talking, Mother had been putting the broom and whisk-broom and dustpan, with the pail and cleaning cloth, into the corner closet on the porch. "There," said she; "now you will always know just where to find your cleaning things and they won't be in the kitchen with your food and dishes. I think Uncle George had a bright thought when he planned this porch closet and this box for the garbage pail and rubbish tin." As she spoke, Mother threw a handful of paper into the rubbish tin. It stood, with the garbage pail, in a long box with a hinged cover, on the porch. Uncle George had made this box so that all dirt might be kept out of the kitchen and so that there should be no need of having the garbage and rubbish in sight. As she closed the box-lid, Mother added, "It will be part of your work every day, Paul, to empty your garbage into the big pail at the other house, and to wash out this pail well with hot, soapy water and washing soda. And Ruth is to keep the rubbish in the other tin emptied into the barrel at the big house, or, in winter time, the rubbish can be burned in the furnace." While she was talking, Paul had been unwrapping a parcel that lay on the table. "What a jolly, big dishpan!" he exclaimed. "Just the thing to give my turtle a swim in!" "No you don't!" cried Ruth. "The idea of putting your dirty old turtle into our lovely clean dishpan!" "But Lightning isn't dirty," protested Paul. He had named his pet "Lightning" because he had raced him with every other pet turtle in Pleasantville and he had beaten them all. "Well, I don't think we exactly care to have him mixed up with the dishes we eat from, dear," put in Mother. "And speaking of dishes, let's get them all washed and put into the china closet." As she spoke, Mother tied a big apron on Ruth and two others on Paul and herself. Next she put two dishpans into the sink, one full of hot, soapy water and the other with clear, hot water. "Oh, do let me wash," begged Ruth. She seized the new soap-shaker and stirred the water into a foamy flood. Each dish was carefully rubbed with a AMMONIA clean dish-cloth, rinsed in the "What is this?" she asked. |