Portia and Lucy practiced ballet (Lucy took lessons in Albany). They had scratched out a garden for themselves containing only the vegetables they preferred: tomatoes, lettuce, onions, and carrots.
"No beets!" Portia said firmly.
"No spinach!" said Lucy.
"Oh, no, never! And absolutely no cucumbers and no broccoli and no cabbages!"
Another project was the rehabilitation of the six sad little rooms in the attic. Mr. Ormond Horton donated the paint, but the girls proposed to do the work themselves.
"Let's have each one a different color," said Portia. "One blue, one green, one red—or, no, pink—"
"And one yellow, and one orange, and—what other colors are there?"
"Purple?" suggested Portia.
"Yes, why not! I never did see a purple room."
Fortunately for them, the rooms were tiny. Even so, the work was harder than they had supposed, and nobody would help them. The little boys offered to hopefully, but were refused.