Sally was always interested in Miss Neppy’s aprons, and it was because she wore so many of them. Yes, all at one time, Miss Neppy would wear as many as four or five aprons, and Sally knew quite well, by now, what each apron meant.
First of all, just over her dress, Miss Neppy wore a small, fine, white apron, trimmed with lace she had made herself, and often with pockets ornamented by tiny bows of pale lavender ribbon. This was her very best apron, quite nice enough to wear when the minister came to call.
Over the small white apron Miss Neppy would tie a large, full, white one, with three fine tucks above the hem. This was the apron in which Miss Neppy would knit or sew or even sit and talk with her friends.
Above this white apron came a stout one, perhaps of white with little blue dots or rings, or perhaps with gay bunches of pink or blue posies. In this apron Miss Neppy did her dusting, her bed-making, her shelling of peas and stringing of beans.
While, last of all, came a dark blue-and-white gingham apron that covered little Miss Neppy all round about and was meant for cooking and washing, for digging in the garden and for scrubbing the floors.
As I say, Sally had grown to know the proper use of each apron, and she knew, too, that Miss Neppy would not feel completely dressed unless she had the right apron on at the right time. Sally had often watched her slip out of her gingham and her dotted aprons when a neighbor knocked at her door, and once she had seen Miss Neppy untie three aprons in the twinkling of an eye and, neat and trim, shake hands with the minister who had come to call.
This afternoon Miss Neppy was ironing aprons, and for this work she wore a white apron covered closely with fine dark blue dots.
Thump, thump went the iron, with an occasional hiss! when Miss Neppy tested it with a Wet forefinger to see whether it were hot enough or no. The pile of ironed aprons grew higher and higher, and Sally and Alice looked up every now and then from the picture book to watch it grow.
‘You must have more than a hundred aprons, Miss Neppy,’ said Sally, watching Miss Neppy unroll and shake out a dampened apron covered over with bright pink flowers.
‘That is the prettiest apron of all,’ thought Sally to herself.