basket. Oh! Aunt Sarah! You've forgotten all about this odd, woven
basket, beside the what-not, filled with sea shells. I don't care for
the shells, but the basket would make a lovely sewing basket."

"You may have the basket, Mary, if you like it. It came from Panama,
or perhaps it was bought at Aspinwall by John's Uncle, many years ago,
when he came home on a visit from California, by way of the Isthmus,
to visit old friends and relatives. John's Mother always kept it
standing on the floor in one corner of the room beside the what-not."

"Aunt Sarah, why was straw ever put under this carpet?"

"The straw was put there, my dear, to save the carpet, should the
boards on the floor be uneven. My Mother was always particular about
having _cut rye straw_, because it was softer and finer than any
other. It was always used in those days instead of the carpet linings
we now have. I remember sometimes, when the carpet had been newly
laid, in our home, immediately after house cleaning time, the surface
of the floor looked very odd; full of bumps and raised places in
spots, until frequent walking over it flattened down the straw. This
room happens to have a particularly good, even floor, as this part of
the house was built many years later than the original, old farm
house, else it would not do to have it painted."

"Aunt Sarah, may I have the old spinning wheel in the attic? I'd love
to furnish an old Colonial bedroom when I have a home of my very own.
I'll use the rag carpet you made me for the floor, the old-fashioned,
high-post bed Uncle John said I might have, and the 'New Colonial'
rugs you taught me to make.