"Then what is it, grandma?" asked Minnie.
"It is a worked hearthrug for your dear mother and father, which I hope to get finished by the time they come home."
"Oh!" exclaimed Minnie, opening her eyes very wide, "will it ever get done?"
"Yes; if I have health and strength," answered Mrs. Headley.
"I am sure they will like it very much," said Alice; "but what is Agnes to help in?"
"Only to plan out the pattern at the corners for me."
"You can buy these things traced out," said Hugh, "for I've seen them tied up by the corners in the fancy shops."
"You have not seen these things," said his grandmother, "they are far too old-fashioned to suit peoples' notions now-a-days."
"Well, if it's all like the piece you've done they haven't got good taste, that's all I can say."
Mrs. Headley then told Agnes where her difficulty lay, and she and the two boys were soon deep in the discussion of how the pattern was to be "mitred" for the corner, the boys going down on their knees and showing the greatest interest.