They had been three days without Benedicta, and she was missed more than she could have been made to believe. Nothing seemed the same. Even the mountain was apparently farther removed from the world of people and homes and all that goes to make life the joy it can be. The food question had not troubled any of them very much, for the housekeeper’s latest baking was not yet exhausted. It was so much diminished, however, that Polly and Lilith had held converse at least twice on the subject, ending with, “Well, we’ll get along some way.” The children were easy, milk being their chief diet; but Mrs. Daybill and Dr. Abbe--! Both Polly and Lilith shook their heads over these two. Three more days passed, and still Mrs. Wheatley was too ill to admit of Benedicta’s return to Sunrise Chalet. Grocer Jack brought word that she would come back and “cook up a lot of victuals” as soon as she could be spared, but she did not know when that would be. “I’m going to make some cookies,” declared Polly. “The children must be longing for them, though they’re good not to tease. You know I did make some once with Benedicta’s help.” “Yes, and they were delicious,” said Lilith. “You can use Benedicta’s recipe if you have forgotten just how.” “Oh, she hadn’t any! I didn’t think of that.” “Those are simple. Can’t you manage them without a recipe?” Polly wagged her head doubtfully. “I think cookies are rather hard to make and have them come out just right. I can try, though maybe I shall have to eat them all myself.” “I’ll help if the batch is spoiled,” laughed Lilith. “It is the bread question that is worrying me. I am so tired of baker’s bread. Perhaps I had better try some muffins first; they don’t take any time to make. Dear me, I didn’t dream that baking was such a bother. If only Benedicta had recipes for such things; but she takes a little of this and a little of that--and it’s done!” Polly’s cookies were hard enough--so she herself averred--to break the children’s teeth into flinders. “I believe I could play ball with them against the garage, and they wouldn’t crack,” she declared disgustedly. “I’m going over to Mrs. Swan’s to see if she has a cooky recipe. Wonder why I didn’t think of it before.” She tried again the next day, and this time the little cakes could not be accused of hardness; they were so rich and crumbly that they came from the pan in pieces. “Anyway, they taste good,” comforted Lilith. “I wish my muffins had come out as well as these.” Poor Lilith! the muffins that she had risen early to make for breakfast had been so heavy and unpalatable that they were fed to the chickens and ducks. In vain the girls coaxed Mrs. Daybill to try her “luck,” but she asserted that she never could do anything without a recipe and that she wasn’t going to waste time in trying. “If I had dreamed that I’d need it I would have brought my recipe book along.” “Better send for it,” advised Polly. “By that time Benedicta would be back,” the other returned.