Merry and Molly Now let us see how the other missionaries got on with their tasks . Farmer Grant was a thrifty , well-to-do man , anxious to give his children greater advantages than he had enjoyed , and to improve the fine place of which he was justly proud . Mrs. Grant was a notable housewife , as ambitious and industrious as her husband , but too busy to spend any time on the elegancies of life , though always ready to help the poor and sick like a good neighbor and Christian woman . The three sons -- Tom , Dick , and Harry -- were big fellows of seventeen , nineteen , and twenty-one ; the first two on the farm , and the elder in a store just setting up for himself . Kind-hearted but rough-mannered youths , who loved Merry very much , but teased her sadly about her `` fine lady airs , '' as they called her dainty ways and love of beauty . Merry was a thoughtful girl , full of innocent fancies , refined tastes , and romantic dreams , in which no one sympathized at home , though she was the pet of the family . It did seem , to an outsider , as if the delicate little creature had got there by mistake , for she looked very like a tea-rose in a field of clover and dandelions , whose highest aim in life was to feed cows and help make root beer . When the girls talked over the new society , it pleased Merry very much , and she decided not only to try and love work better , but to convert her family to a liking for pretty things , as she called her own more cultivated tastes . `` I will begin at once , and show them that I do n't mean to shirk my duty , though I do want to be nice , '' thought she , as she sat at supper one night and looked about her , planning her first move . Not a very cheering prospect for a lover of the beautiful , certainly , for the big kitchen , though as neat as wax , had nothing lovely in it , except a red geranium blooming at the window . Nor were the people all that could be desired , in some respects , as they sat about the table shovelling in pork and beans with their knives , drinking tea from their saucers , and laughing out with a hearty `` Haw , haw , '' when anything amused them . Yet the boys were handsome , strong specimens , the farmer a hale , benevolent-looking man , the housewife a pleasant , sharp-eyed matron , who seemed to find comfort in looking often at the bright face at her elbow , with the broad forehead , clear eyes , sweet mouth , and quiet voice that came like music in among the loud masculine ones , or the quick , nervous tones of a woman always in a hurry . Merry 's face was so thoughtful that evening that her father observed it , for , when at home , he watched her as one watches a kitten , glad to see anything so pretty , young , and happy , at its play . `` Little daughter has got something on her mind , I mistrust . Come and tell father all about it , '' he said , with a sounding slap on his broad knee as he turned his chair from the table to the ugly stove , where three pairs of wet boots steamed underneath , and a great kettle of cider apple-sauce simmered above . `` When I 've helped clear up , I 'll come and talk . Now , mother , you sit down and rest ; Roxy and I can do everything , '' answered Merry , patting the old rocking-chair so invitingly that the tired woman could not resist , especially as watching the kettle gave her an excuse for obeying . `` Well , I do n't care if I do , for I 've been on my feet since five o'clock . Be sure you cover things up , and shut the buttery door , and put the cat down cellar , and sift your meal . I 'll see to the buckwheats last thing before I go to bed . ''
Mrs. Grant subsided with her knitting , for her hands were never idle ; Tom tilted his chair back against the wall and picked his teeth with his pen-knife ; Dick got out a little pot of grease , to make the boots water-tight ; and XXXXX sat down at the small table to look over his accounts , with an important air , -- for every one occupied this room , and the work was done in the out-kitchen behind .
Christian Harry Now Roxy Tom apple-sauce elegancies first night o'clock