She always brought in a large pile of wood every night, the last thing before going to bed, and laid it upon the hearth where it would be ready at hand for the morning fire.

She also had a pail of water ready, from the spring, and the tea-kettle by the side of it, ready to be filled.

The potatoes, too, which were to be roasted for breakfast, were always prepared the night before, and placed in an earthen pan, before the fire.

Mary Erskine, in fact, was always very earnest to make every possible preparation over night, for the work of the morning.

This arose partly from an instinctive impulse which made her always wish, as she expressed it, "to do every duty as soon as it came in sight," and partly from the pleasure which she derived from a morning visit to the animals in the barn.