Kitty stood still in her astonishment, and watched him while he took out the round green sticks that she had put in, laid in bits of dry paper and bits of sticks,--laid them in such a careless, uneven way, that it seemed to her they would never burn in the world; only he speedily proved that they would, by setting fire to the whole, and they crackled and snapped in a most determined manner, and finally roared outright. Certainly Kitty had never been so much astonished in her life. First, because that rubbish in the stove had been made to become such a positive fire; secondly, that Tip had actually set to work without being coaxed or scolded, and made a fire! There was a queer, new feeling about it all to Tip himself; for, strange as it may seem, so entirely selfish had been this boy's life, that this was actually the first time he had ever, of his own free will, done anything to help the family at home. His spirits rose with the effort. "Come, Kitty," he said briskly, "here's your fire. Now, let's fly round and get father and mother some breakfast. Say, do you know how to make toast?" "It's likely I do," Kitty answered shortly. "If you had roasted your face and burnt your fingers as often as I have, making it for father, I guess you would know how." "Well, now, just suppose we make two slices,--one for mother, and one for father,--and two cups of tea. My! you and I will be jolly housekeepers, Kitty." "Humph!" said Kitty contemptuously. You see she wasn't in the least used to being good-natured, and it took a great deal of coaxing to make her give other than short, sharp answers to all that was said. But, for all that, she went to work, after Tip had poured some water in the dingy little tea-kettle and set it over the fire, cutting the two slices of bread, and getting them ready to toast when there should be any coals. Tip, meantime, hunted among the confusion, of all sorts of things in the cupboard, for two clean plates and cups. "You're taken with an awful clean fit, seems to me," Kitty said, as she stood watching him while he hunted for a cloth, then carefully wiped off the plates. "Yes," answered Tip good-naturedly; "I'm going to try it for a spell, and find out how things look after they are washed." Altogether it was a queer morning to both of them; and each felt a touch of triumph when at last the toast lay brown and nice, a slice on each plate, and the hot tea, poured into the cups, smelled fresh and fragrant. The two children went softly to the bedroom door in time to hear their father say,-- "What makes you try to get up, if your head is so bad?" "Oh, what makes me! What else is there for _me_ to do? The young ones are both up, and if I find the roof left on the house I'll be thankful. I never knew them to stay together five minutes without having a battle."