You see, the trouble is, they've been neglected, and clothes, like plants or children, won't thrive under neglect." "I know it, Aunt Alice, but we never thought of mending things down at the Hurly-Burly, and there was no one to do it for us, as there was at Aunt Isabel's." "Never mind your other aunts, Patty; you have to deal now with your Aunt Alice, and you will find her a regular tyrant." But the loving smile which accompanied this speech robbed it of all tyrannical effect.
"Now," the "tyrant" went on, "we'll put in one pile all the things that are too faded or worn to be of use to you, and those we'll give away to some one who can use them.

These heavy silk and velvet frocks and these gorgeous party dresses we'll just lay away for the present, and now we'll put in this place all that needs mending.

It's a shame to see these dainty little white petticoats and nightgowns with their buttons off, and their trimmings torn." "Yes, Aunt Isabel bought me those, and they were lovely when they were new." "And they'll be lovely again, for they only need a few stitches and some good laundry-work to make them as pretty and fresh as ever.

Do you know how to sew, Patty ?" "No, Aunt Alice, I don't.

When I was at home, Mrs.Miller, our landlady, always looked after my things, and I never thought of sewing; and since I've been North, I haven't, either." "Well, Patty, sewing is an old-fashioned accomplishment, I suppose, but I think it is something that every woman ought to know; and if you are going to keep my brother's house for him, I am going to see to it that you are well equipped for the task, and to that end I'm going to instruct you in both sewing and housekeeping.