"I should say she has! She knows all about housekeeping, from A to Z! Her remedy sounds queer, but I can vouch for its efficacy, so if anyone ever asks you what to do for red ants, you tell them this, Bettina. I took some covers from baking powder cans, and some Mason jar covers, and some pie tins, and chalked the sides well with common school crayon. Then I set them on the pantry shelves to hold dishes of whatever kinds of food the ants liked. The ants never climbed over those chalked covers and soon they had all disappeared. I don't have to use the chalked tins any more, but if I ever see a red ant in my pantry again, I'll get out the chalk."
"Couldn't you make a heavy chalk mark on the shelf paper around the dish of food?" asked Bob.
"I tried that, but it didn't do any good. But the other way worked beautifully."
"I'm glad to know about it," said Bettina. "Well, Bob, are you ready? It will take only a few minutes to carry out the dishes and pile them up. I'm sorry we've kept you people waiting."
For dinner that night they had:
Cold Sliced Lamb Creamed Potatoes
Chili Sauce Escalloped Cabbage
Bread Butter
Baked Custard
BETTINA'S RECIPES
(All measurements are level)
Escalloped Cabbage (Two portions)
1 C-cooked cabbage
1 T-butter
1 T-flour
¼ t-salt
½ C-milk
2 T-fresh bread crumbs
1 T-melted butter