“Yes, you have,” said the woman, who was by no means an ill-natured creature for a hard-driven woman. “You’ve done first-rate.”
“Will you tell Aunt Matilda that?” said Meg.
“Yes,” was the answer.
Meg was standing with her hands clasped tightly behind her back, and she looked at Mrs. Macartney very straight and hard from under her black brows.
“Mrs. Macartney,” she said, “if I’m worth it, Aunt Matilda will give me a dollar a week; and it’s time I began to work for my living. Am I worth that much?”
“Yes, you are,” said Mrs. Macartney, “if you go on as you’ve begun.”
“I shall go on as I’ve begun,” said Meg. “Thank you, ma’am,” and she walked back to the house.
After dinner she waited to speak to Aunt Matilda again.
“I went to the dairy,” she said.
“I know you did,” Aunt Matilda answered. “Mrs. Macartney told me about it. You can go on. I’ll give you the dollar a week.”