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The first Wednesday of every month was a Perfectly Awful Day at the John Grier Home. People waited for it with fear, lived through it with courage and forgot it as fast as they could. Every floor had to shine. Every chair had to be free of dust, and every bed had to be without a single wrinkle. Ninety-seven wriggling little orphans had to be washed and combed and buttoned into clean clothes. All ninety-seven had to remember their manners. Whenever a Trustee spoke to them, they had to say, "Yes, sir," and "No, sir."

It was a hard day for everyone. It was hardest of all for Jerusha Abbott, because she was the oldest orphan in the Home. But this particular Wednesday, like all the others, finally came to an end. Jerusha left the kitchen, where she had made sandwiches for the visitors all afternoon. Then she went upstairs to do her usual work.