There was plenty of plain crockery piled up and it was rushed into a
capacious receptacle and washed with great dexterity. Then wipe, young
men, wipe! Will you allow a young lady to wash faster than two can
wipe? _Never_, _boys_, never! and with incredible speed the
surface of the plates and dishes was changed into mirrors. There was
one young lady who was hard to beat; often when the parties thought
they had nearly succeeded she would cry out for "hot water"! and one
would have to supply her with it, and by that time his partner would be
overwhelmed with a stock of unwiped crockery. Need I say that at times
I was one of those boys?
There were none of the modern conveniences for water, and the pump had
to do its share of work. The rooms were supplied daily by a water
carrier who went from house to house filling the pails and pitchers in
the rooms and halls.
I was willing and tractable. The fresh air, the simple diet and the
free life began at once to tone up my organization. I soon found that
the Eyry steps and the Eyry embankments were where the air was freshest
of an evening, and the tones of the piano presided over by the "poet's
sister," Fanny Dwight, attracted me more and more.
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