" She set
the pan on the stove, poured some water from the tea-kettle over the
apples, and put on a cover. "Now come on into the pantry."
They entered a sweet-smelling, spicy little room, all white paint, and
shelves which were loaded with dishes and boxes and bags and pans of
milk and jars of preserves.
"There!" said Aunt Abigail, opening the window. "That's not so good as
the one at school. This only tells when noon is."
Elizabeth Ann stared stupidly at the deep scratch on the window-sill.
"Don't you see?" said Aunt Abigail. "When the shadow got to that mark it
was noon. And the rest of the time you guessed by how far it was from
the mark. Let's see if I can come anywhere near it now." She looked at it
hard and said: "I guess it's half-past four." She glanced back into the
kitchen at the clock and said: "Oh pshaw! It's ten minutes past five!
Now my grandmother could have told that within five minutes, just by the
place of the shadow. I declare! Sometimes it seems to me that every time
a new piece of machinery comes into the door some of our wits fly out at
the window! Now I couldn't any more live without matches than I could
fly! And yet they all used to get along all right before they had
matches. Makes me feel foolish to think I'm not smart enough to get
along, if I WANTED to, without those little snips of pine and brimstone.
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