"What are your terms for tuition, Miss Keith?" inquired Edward, as she and Ella Neff joined the circle in the parlor.
"Beginners get their board, which is sometimes more than they earn."
"Is that all?" said Donald. "Then I think I shall retire from the service."
"I advise you to do no such thing," said Ella, "the knowledge you gain may prove invaluable in some future emergency: some time when you find yourself out on the plains or buried in the forests of the Far West, with no gentle, loving woman at hand to prepare your meals."
"In that case there would doubtless be an ungentle and obedient orderly to do so," rejoined Donald with gravity.
"Well, women are often lectured by newspaper writers and others on the paramount duty of making themselves acquainted with the culinary art, as well as everything else pertaining to housewifery, in order that they may be fully capable of directing the labors of their servants, and I see no reason why the rule shouldn't hold good for men," remarked Ella.
"There, sir, you're cornered, Donald!" laughed Charlie.
"Now that we are all here together, suppose we make such arrangements as are necessary to constitute ourselves a tolerably orderly household," said Mary.
"I understood that you were commanding officer, and the rest of us had nothing to do but obey orders," said Donald.
"Quite a mistake. This is not an army, but a democracy, in which the majority rules. All important questions, therefore—"