“Thank you, Grandmother,” said Alice,
“and I’m sorry I spoke so about you, dear,”
she added to Mary Jane; “go ahead and make your
jam, pet, and I’ll make Mother something else.
I know it would be more fun for you to make it without
me. May I make her a cake, Grandmother?
Make it the day before she comes?”
Grandmother assured her that she could and they all
went in to get supper.
The next morning Mary Jane put on her cooking cap
and apron and she and Grandmother went at the jam
while Alice and Grandfather rode to the village on
an errand.
“Measure out a good big cup full of berries,”
said Grandmother; “pile it full as it will hold
and wash them and put them in this pan.”
Mary Jane picked out nice big, juicy berries; that
wasn’t hard to do because most of the berries
were very fine; the girls hadn’t picked any
other kind. Then she washed them carefully and
put them in the pan Grandmother had given her.
“Now measure an even cupful of sugar,”
said Grandmother, “and pour it over your berries.”
And Mary Jane went to the sugar bin and did as she
was told.
“Now,” continued Grandmother, “shake
the berries till the sugar’s well mixed in and
then set the pan on the stove.”
While the berries were cooking Grandmother had her
hunt out a nice jelly glass, one that the top fitted
on firmly; wash and dry it ready for the jelly.
Then Mary Jane took a big spoon and Grandmother took
a big spoon and they stood by the stove and watched
the jam boil. When the bubbles got big, oh,
very big, and looked as shining as big glass beads,
Grandmother said it was about done and must be tested.
She put her spoon in and then, holding it over the
pan of jam, let the hot jam drop off.
“Almost done,” said Grandmother, with
a satisfied nod; “now you try it, Mary Jane.”
So Mary Jane dipped her spoon in just as her grandmother
had done and again the jam dropped off, this time
a little slower and with longer drops. Grandmother
told her to put the glass on a chair, on a paper,
and by the time she had done that the jam was ready
to pour into the glass.
When Alice and Grandfather came home from their errand
the glass of jam was all done and was on the table
near the window, covered neatly with its tin cover
ready to give to Mrs. Merrill when she should come.
“And that won’t be so many days now either,”
said Grandmother. “I declare, how this
summer has gone!”
On the very day that Alice counted out her money and
found she had the seventy-five cents she needed for
her much wanted camera and that Mary Jane had fifty
cents, there came a telegram from Mrs. Merrill saying
that she and Mr. Merrill would arrive the next morning
for a stay of ten days.
“Now this is something like old times,”
said Grandmother happily as she and the two girls
bustled around making ready for the guests. “Lots
of cooking to do and two nice girls to help me do
it. Seems like the days when our own girls were
here! Mary Jane, you’ve done plenty of
dusting for today; you go and get your grandfather
to pick out two nice fat chickens for frys while I
teach Alice about making her cake. She’s
going to have a beauty to show her mother, that’s
what she is!”
