"
"Have not some of the house-servants been trained as seamstresses?"
"Yes, sir, two of them, mammy tells me."
"Very well; she knows how to run a sewing-machine. Send for one when you
order your material; both can be had in the nearest town. Aunt Chloe can
soon teach the girls how to manage it; Uncle Joe, too; he has had no
regular work assigned him yet, and the four can certainly do all without
anything more than a little oversight from you; yes, without even that."
"What a capital planner you are, papa," she said brightly; "I never
thought of getting a machine or setting Uncle Joe to running it; but I am
sure it's just the thing to do. Mammy can cut and the girls baste, and
among them the machine can easily be kept going from morning to night.
I'll make out my orders and send for the things at once."
"That is right, daughter; it pleases me well to note how you put in
practice the lesson of promptness I have always tried to teach you. I will
help you in making your estimate of quantities needed, prices to be paid,
etc., and I think we can accomplish the whole before dinner. Come to the
library and let us to work."
"You dear, kind father, always trying to help me and smooth the least
roughness out of my path, and make life as enjoyable to me as possible,"
she said, laying her hand on his arm and looking up into his face with
eyes beaming with filial love, as they rose and stood together for a
moment.
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