CHAPTER XVI

CLEANING DAY

"MOTHER," said Ruth, looking up from her saucer of oatmeal one Saturday morning, "when are Aunt Louise and the baby coming home?"

"Uncle George said last night that he was going up to Skytop to-day to bring them back with him," replied Mother. "I am so anxious to see Baby-he will have grown so much in these two months. It doesn't seem possible that September is here already."

"School begins Monday," chimed in Paul. "I never saw such a short vacation.'

"Being so busy with the play-house made it seem short," said Ruth. "Oh, Mother, just think! Aunt Louise hasn't seen the play-house at all. Do let's have a 'housewarming,' as Mrs. Vincent had when she built her new house and invite Aunt Louise to it."

"I think that would be lovely," agreed Mother. "We can make the house quite spick and span and do our marketing to-day and celebrate the housewarming on Sunday afternoon."

"Great!" cried Paul. "I'll tell you what, Daddy, let's you and I plan the eats while Ruth does the sweeping and cleaning."

"If that isn't just like a boy!" exclaimed Ruth. "They always want to do the eating while the girls do all the disagreeable things."

"Oh, you-" began Paul.

"Come, come," interrupted Mother. "Let's not forget that the cornerstone of our play-house is peace and coöperation. We'll all help plan what Paul calls the 'eats' and we'll all help with the cleaning. But I'm sorry, Ruth, that you class cleaning among 'disagreeable' things."

"Well," admitted Ruth, "I don't really suppose I've ever done enough cleaning to know very much about it, and I'm always away at school when you are doing the cleaning, but I remember at the farm last summer Hannah used to hate Fridays when she swept. The house was all upset and Hannah was so tired and cross."

"It is hard work to clean a house that is full of carpets, heavy curtains and upholstered furniture, like Uncle Silas's farmhouse," said Mother. "But our floors are bare, with only small, light rugs. We have nothing but thin, washable curtains, and our chairs have cushions that can be taken outdoors and beaten. Come along, folks, and let's see how quickly and well we can put things into apple-pie order."

As Father had some drawing to do, he was excused, but Ruth and Paul followed Mother's lead back to the play-house.

"Now," said Mother, "if the play-house were not brand new, we should have to give it a regular, thorough cleaning, but as it is, I don't really think we shall find much dirt. Suppose, Paul, you clean the bathroom, while Ruth and I start on her room."

Paul, who was a little offended still at Ruth's taunting him for being interested only in eating,

vowed that when he got through with that bathroom it should be the cleanest one in Pleasantville. Armed with a soft cloth and a bar of white soap, he washed and wiped the tiling along the wall. Then the paint was carefully wiped off. "Not too much rubbing on the paint, son," cautioned mother from the next room. "All it needs is just enough to take off any fingermarks. Scrubbing paint with washing powders and sapolio takes off not only the dirt, but the paint, too."

The tub was already clean, but Paul gave it an extra rub with warm water and soap. Then the washstand was washed and wiped dry and the toilet-bowl was carefully washed out with soapy water and a long-handled brush that Mother had bought especially for it. Next the faucets were polished with a piece of chamois and a little nickel polish. Last, he washed and dried the tile floor. Paul looked around the room with a satisfied sigh and called to Ruth, 66 'Come in here and see whether I can clean or not!" "You certainly can," declared Ruth. "You know, Paul, I didn't say boys couldn't do things just as well as girls. All I said was that they'd rather eat than work."

"Let's see your room," said Paul.

"Doesn't it look nice?" said Ruth, proudly. It did look very nice, indeed. Mother had taken the three small rugs out on the piazza and shaken and brushed them while Ruth wiped up the floor with a cloth on which she had poured a very little kerosene. Then Ruth had wiped off the paint while Mother had dusted the furniture with a damp cloth. Lastly, Ruth

had wiped off all the pictures and replaced the rugs. "If this weren't a new house, we ought to wipe down the walls with a damp cloth," said Mother. "That is why we had the walls painted instead of papering them. But these walls are still clean."

"I don't think we need wash the windows," said Ruth, "because we just washed them the other day. I made the glass all whitish with Bon Ami and water and then when it was dry, polished it off with soft tissue paper."

"Yes," agreed Mother, "they look very nice. And we just cleaned the kitchen very thoroughly yesterday-the oilcloth was wiped off with milk to keep it clean and bright, the sink was scrubbed out with hot water, soap and ammonia, and the stove was well blacked. I think we can all combine in cleaning the living-room."

While they worked, Mother amused them by telling them about her old colored Mammy. "She used to make the most dreadful time on cleaning days. She would flap around with a great turkey-feather duster that she had made herself from barnyard feathers. When I objected to the dust, she would only say, 'Sho, child, tucky-fedders was made on purpose for to dust wid! I knew how to dust befo' you was born!' I tried to show her how to dust with a damp cloth, the right way, but she simply said, 'Huh!' and went on using the turkey-feathers."

"Did you have floors like these, or did you have to sweep carpets?" asked Paul, who was brushing up the hearth.