age, but he inherited the weak lungs of his father, who died of consumption.  Raymond was a lovable boy, with a fund of dry humor and wit—­the idol of his mother, who, taking the advice of a specialist, accompanied her boy, as a last resort, to New Mexico, where, partly owing to his determination to get well, proper food and daily rides on the mesa, on the back of his little pinto pony, he regained perfect health, and today is well, happily married and living in Pasadena, California, so I have been told by Frau Schmidt, who dearly loves the boy.”

“But Mary, forgive an old woman for rambling away from the subject in which you are interested—­Navajo blankets.  Ever since we planned to make a rug with a swastika in the centre, I nave been trying to evolve from my brain (and your Uncle John says my bump of inventiveness is abnormally large) a Navajo rag rug for the floor of the room you intend to furnish as Ralph’s den, in the home you are planning.  Well, my dear, a wooden crochet hook in your deft fingers will be the magic wand which will perform a miracle and transform into Navajo blankets such very commonplace articles as your discarded gray eiderdown kimona, and a pair of your Uncle’s old gray trousers, which have already been washed and ripped by Sibylla, to be used for making carpet rags.  These, combined with the gray skirt I heard you say had outlived its day of usefulness, will furnish the background of the rug.  The six triangles in the centre of the rug, also lighter stripes at each end of the rug, we will make of that old linen chair-cover and your faded linen skirt, which you said I might use for carpet rags; and, should more material be needed, I have some old, gray woolen underwear in my patch bag, a gray-white, similar to the real Navajo.  The rows of black with which we shall outline the triangles may be made from those old, black, silk-lisle hose you gave me, by cutting them round and round in one continuous strip.  Heavy cloth should be cut in very narrow strips.  Sibylla will do that nicely; her hands are more used to handling large, heavy shears than are yours.  The linen-lawn skirt you may cut in strips about three-fourths of an inch in width, as that material is quite thin.  I would sew rags of one color together like carpet rags, not lapping the ends more than necessary to hold them together.  The rug will be reversible, both sides being exactly alike when finished.  I should make the rug about fifty-three stitches across.  This will require about six and one-fourth yards of carpet rags, when sewed together, to crochet once across.  I think it would be wise to cut all rags of different weight materials before commencing to crochet the rug, so they may be well mixed through.  I will assist you with the work at odd moments, and in a short time the rug will be finished.”

The rug, when finished, was truly a work of art, and represented many hours of labor and thought.  But Mary considered it very fascinating work, and was delighted with the result of her labor—­a rug the exact imitation of one of the Professor’s genuine Indian Navajo blankets, the work of her own hands, and without the expenditure of a penny.