WASHING THE DISHES,
"IF there is anything I hate," said Marjorie Fane, "it is washing the dishes. I would rather do any other work."
"So do I hate it," chimed in Ellie Macon. The two little girls were sitting in a broad, cushioned seat in a window, looking out on a pleasant garden. Mrs. Fane was busy in the room with her sewing, not paying much attention to their talk, yet keeping the thread of it in her mind.
"Aunt Eunice, can you endure it?" asked Ellie, looking up and meeting the glance of Mrs. Fane's soft brown eyes.
"How does it happen that you are both so wrought up on the subject just now?" the lady inquired in her turn.
"I never found it disagreeable myself. I have had far harder things to do than wash a few cups and saucers, which is all Marjorie does at breakfast and supper-time. That seems to me a very proper employment for a little daughter at home. I did not know, Ellie dear, that you were concerned about domestic affairs in the least."
"Why, Aunt Eunice, Bridget has left us; she has gone back to Ireland to visit her friends, and so mamma and I are dividing the housekeeping, till we get somebody who is likely to suit us."
"I had not heard it, Ellie, but I think it very nice that you are able to divide the housekeeping with your dear mother, and be such a little helper and friend. I think one pleasant thing about work, which we do in our homes is this, that we are adding to the comforts of those we love, and making them happy. But I have noticed that you girls are not the only ones who dislike to wash dishes. I wonder why."
"Well, auntie, I'll tell you. It's such slow, poky work, and you never seem to get to the end of it. There is always one spoon or one fork more just when you suppose the last one is finished and disposed of. I made up my mind last Sabbath that I would try this week to live for Jesus, and do something sweet and noble every day.
And here it is Friday night, and what have I to show? Making beds, sweeping rooms, dusting the parlors, brushing up crumbs, feeding the cat, studying my lessons, and three times a day setting the table and clearing it off.
The week has just been thrown away."
"I made a resolution too," said Marjorie; "but when I came home, I found Miss Catharine Purvis here, and she said something that annoyed me before I had fairly gotten my hat off, and so my resolution flew into little bits."
Mrs. Fane laid a gentle hand on her daughter's golden head, and drew Ellie close to her. Both the children had exchanged their seats in the window for one nearer the friend they loved; for though she was mother to one and aunt to the other, she was their dearest adviser, and the person who heard all their secrets.
"Let me tell you how to make even washing dishes a very pleasant task."
"Now, mamma, don't say that we must put our hearts into it, please," said Marjorie.
"I don't intend to, though you have often heard me say that the only way to get real good and pleasure out of a thing, out of anything, mind is to do it heartily as unto the Lord. The moment you begin to think of some little duty, such as sweeping, dusting, or mending your stockings, that it is of no importance, and occasioning you a loss of time, you cease to do it heartily.
Then it becomes a toil. If you can teach yourselves to feel that the Lord cares how you do all these little things, and that he observes them just as much as he does the sweet and noble things, you will go about them in the right spirit, as unto him. But now for our dishes. My plan is always to take hold of the hardest thing first. So I proceed at once to my pots and pans, kettles and gridirons, and whatever utensils have been used in cooking, and wash them thoroughly with plenty of hot water and soap, dry them, and set them on the back of the range a few minutes, so that any remaining moisture may evaporate,
Then I put them away in their own special closet. I then gather up my plates, cups, and saucers. I take pains to collect all the debris, the leavings on the plates, etc., in one dish, and some of it I give to the chickens or the cat. That which is of no use what ever goes at once into the fire, is burned up and is out of the way. You know that to have decaying vegetable matter or refuse of any kind standing about in boxes or pails or tubs, is very unwholesome. It may produce fever or other sickness, and all little women should learn to be very particular about this matter. Perfect purity and cleanliness in and around a house have a great deal to do with keeping its inmates well. I pile all my plates of one size together, so I do with saucers and cups, and as for the glasses, and spoons, and silver, I place them apart.
I then take the things by installments. With plenty of water, nice smooth soapsuds, a pan close by to rinse the dishes off, and clean soft towels to dry with, the work is soon done. There is everything in feeling pride in what you are trying to accomplish, dears.
I have been thinking lately that it would be a good plan for me to let Marjorie take entire charge of the china-closet. She is so careful that I am sure I can trust her, and if she keeps it in perfect order, it will be a real credit to her."
"I will ask my mother to give me charge of ours,”! said Ellie. "You have made me see that even washing dishes may have a pleasant side, provided a person takes pains."
"Once," said Mrs. Fane, "when I was a little girl of ten, a dear teacher gave me a rule of conduct, which has been of great use to me ever since. I was not quite sure whether or not it was right for me to attend a place of amusement to which some of my friends were going. I had begun then to try to live as Christ would have me, and though I was only a child, I sometimes found hard places where I did not know just what duty was. In this instance, though my mother had given her consent, I had a feeling that it was not given very gladly. She wanted to please me, and would, I could see, be herself pleased if I remained at home. So I went with my trouble to my dear friend, for I was very fond of Miss Jennie, and she wrote this on a slip of paper: 'Whether
therefore, ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.'"
"That's a very straight rule, mamma," said Marjorie.
"Yes," said Ellie, "but it's a good rule to walk by."
M. E. Sangster,
in S. S. Times.