“Just like Jack and Jill,” said Bessie, as they trudged up the path, carrying a pail between them.
“I hope we won’t be like them and fall down,” said Dolly. “I suppose I’d be Jack—and I don’t want to break my crown.”
“It’s an easy path. I guess we’re safe enough,” said Bessie. “It really hardly seems worth while to fix up that pipe-line Miss Eleanor spoke about.”
“Oh, you’ll find it’s worth while, Bessie. The salt air makes everyone terribly thirsty, and after you’ve climbed this path a few times it won’t seem so easy to be running up and down all the time. There are so many other things to do here that it’s a pity to waste time doing the same thing over and over again when you don’t really need to.”
“I suppose that’s so, too. It’s always foolish to do work that you don’t need to do—I mean that can be done in some easier way. If your time’s worth anything at all, you can find some better use for it.”
“That’s what I say! It would be foolish and wasteful to set a hundred men to digging when one steam shovel will do the work better and quicker than they can. And it’s the same way with this water here. If we can put up a pipe in about an hour that will save two or three hours of chasing every day, whenever water is needed, it must be sensible to do it.”
They got the water down without any mishap, however, and it was eagerly welcomed.
“It’s good water,” said Margery. “But not as good as the water at Long Lake and in the mountains.”
“That’s the best water in the world, Margery,” said Eleanor. “This is cold, though, and it’s perfectly healthy. And, after all, that is as much as we can expect. Are you and Bessie going for a walk, Dolly?”
“We thought we would, if you don’t mind.”