Accordingly Mrs. Blunt soon appeared, carrying her baby in her arms, a roll of mending in one hand and her toddling child in the other. Meg greeted her with a bright smile. "Here you are!" she said. "I am so glad you came early, because the earlier I get to it the better. I often make it before breakfast." "And can you bake it in your oven?" "Yes, it is such a good little stove. I'm so glad it is not a kitchener, because they burn so much, whether you want it or not." "I could never bake enough in my oven to make it worth while," said Mrs. Blunt. "I've been thinking of that," answered Meg, "and my husband says that the baker would bake it for you, he thinks, for nothing, if you made the arrangement to buy your flour there. You could make inquiries. Jem says he knew one woman who did regularly." "I should want some large tins," said Mrs. Blunt. "I dare say you could pick some up cheap somewhere," said Meg; "but anyway in a week you would save the price of a large tin." "Should I?" asked Mrs. Blunt. "Yes; Jem has been reckoning it up, and he says you would save eighteenpence or two shillings a week." "I should like to save that," exclaimed Mrs. Blunt; "it would buy us a deal of things we have to do without now." "That it would," said Meg, busily pouring her flour into the pan, and measuring some crushed salt into it. "See, Mrs. Blunt, to my five pounds of flour I put five half teaspoonfuls of salt and five half-pints of lukewarm water. It is very simple." "But you haven't put the water in yet," said Mrs. Blunt. "No, because part of that has to melt my yeast. Here it is, feel it--just as warm as new milk. There! now I pour this on the yeast and mix it well; now I make a hole in my flour and pour in my yeast and the rest of my water, and stir it round--so--round and round till it is as thick as a batter and as smooth." Mrs. Blunt was watching intently. It looked very interesting to see Meg's clean hand going round and round, each time drawing a little flour into the yellow cream in the middle. "It takes a long time," she remarked. "Not a bit too long. If you are patient over this part the next will take less time, and your bread will not be lumpy." While she spoke she plunged her two hands into the middle of the batter and began to knead in the rest of the flour, which stood up round the sides as a sort of wall; and as she kneaded she pushed the middle out and drew the sides in, to Mrs. Blunt's great astonishment. "You see, I want to work it all smooth, and when it is in a round cushion it is done." "Does it go into the oven at once?" asked Mrs. Blunt. Meg laughed merrily. "No; I set it near the fire to rise, and it has to get to more than twice as high as it is now before it is ready. You will have to come up again to see it 'made up' if you want to learn the whole process." "I'm afraid I should be a long time getting it right," said Mrs. Blunt, sighing.