Now it struck me that if Judith went there and played her cards properly, she could stay there as mistress.

Although she was a girl very much given to keeping her own counsel, I knew very well that she had something of the same idea.
"As I said before, the Pacewalks were poor, and although they lived well enough, money was scarce with them, and it was seldom that they were able to spend any of it for clothes.

But about this time Judith came to me--I was visiting them at the time--and talked a little about herself, which was uncommon.

She said that if she went to Matthias' fine new house, and sat at the head of his table,--and of course that would be her place there, as it was at her mother's table,--she thought that she ought to dress better than she did.

'I do not mean,' she said, 'that I want any fine clothes for company; but I ought to have something neat and proper for everyday wear, and I want you to help me to think of some way to buy it.' So we talked the matter over, and came to the conclusion that the best way to do was to try to gather teaberries enough to pay for the material for a chintz gown.
"In those days--I don't know how it is now--Pascalville was the greatest place for teaberries.