Ethel Blue nodded silently and ate her supper thoughtfully.
"While you two were taking your nap, I went to Sweetbrier Lodge," said Mrs. Morton, by way of entertaining the invalids. "I am so much interested in the way that Aunt Louise has arranged for the maids. You know so many people have only a servant's workroom, the kitchen; and the maids have no room to sit in after their work is done. Aunt Louise has been very thoughtful in all her plans. The laundry and the kitchen and the pantry between the kitchen and the dining room, all have the most convenient arrangements possible. Every shelf and cupboard is placed so that the number of footsteps that the kitchen worker must take will be reduced as greatly as possible. Then there are all sorts of labor saving arrangements. You saw those in the kitchen and the cellar. The electrician has been there daily fitting up an electric range and dish-washing machine. The wires in the kitchen are placed just where they will be most serviceable, and there are plenty of windows so that the room is bright in the day-time. Then just off the kitchen, there is a delightful little sitting room, with a porch opening from it. It has a view toward the garden and FitzJames's woods, and it is to be prettily furnished."
"There are two bed-rooms and a bath for the maids in the attic story," said Ethel Blue. "They are going to be prettily furnished too."
"Will they have a garden?" asked Dicky from his corner.
"Do you know?" Mrs. Morton turned to Ethel for an answer.
"I do understand now," she replied, "why Dorothy insisted on having the herb garden down by the house. I thought it was just because it would be convenient to have the herbs near the kitchen, but she planted flowers there too, and now I see that it will be a pretty flower garden for the maids to enjoy and to cut for their own rooms."
"There are two things about Aunt Louise that are interesting," said Ethel Blue. "One is the way she always tries to make other people happy and comfortable."
"She is naturally thoughtful and considerate," said Mrs. Morton, "and she has had much unhappiness in her life and has happened to meet many people who are unhappy, so it has taught her to do all she can to brighten other people's lives and to make them easier."