"Is it much work?" asked Margaret.
"It isn't much work at any one time but it takes several days to get it done."
"Why?"
"First you have to cut up the fruit, peel and all, into tiny slivers. That's a rather long undertaking and it's hard unless you have a very, very sharp knife."
"I've discovered that in preparing them for breakfast."
"The fruit are of such different sizes that you have to weigh the result of your paring. To every pound of cut-up fruit add a pint of water and let it stand over night. In the morning pour off that water and fill the kettle again and let it boil until the toughest bit of skin is soft, and then let it stand over night more."
"It seems to do an awful lot of resting," remarked Roger.
"A sort of 'weary Willie,'" commented James.
"When you're ready to go at it again, you weigh it once more and add four times as many pounds of sugar as you have fruit."
"You must have to make it in a wash-boiler!"