"Right now," he answered. "You see, Nan, I've got loads of things to do, an' I can't be wastin' time."
"What things?" questioned Nan, curiously.
"Oh--I'll tell you about them after awhile," replied the boy. "The broom in your room?"
"Yes, I'll bring it to you," and Nan hurried off.
She came back with an old pail full of hot water, a piece of soap, a broom and a cloth, and then she proceeded to show Tode how to clean the woodwork and floor, thoroughly, with special attention to the dark corners which looked, indeed, as if they had never been visited by a broom. Nan was a thorough little housewife, and she longed to do the whole work herself, but Tode would not allow that, so she could only stand and look on, wondering inwardly how a boy could handle a broom so awkwardly. But if he was slow and awkward about it, Tode was in earnest, and he looked with much satisfaction at the result of his labor when it was completed.
"You'll have to wash the floor again after you've whitewashed the walls," Nan said, "but it needed two scrubbings, anyhow."
Tode looked at it ruefully. "Oh, did it?" he said. "I think one such scrubbing as that ought to last it a year."
Nan laughed. "If you'll carry out my bread and things to-morrow, I'll do your whitewashing for you," she said.
But Tode shook his head. "I'll carry out your stuff all right," he answered, "but I ain't a-goin' to have a girl doin' my work for me."
He bought the lime and paid also for the use of a pail and brush, and the next day he put a white coat on his walls, and when this was done, he was much better satisfied with his quarters. Nan offered to lend him her shawl in place of a blanket, but he guessed that she needed it herself and refused her offer.