Substitutes for meat were discussed earnestly, chiefly on account of the high cost of living but also because meat was declared to be far too heating for warm weather use.  Each of the women knew of some dish which took the place of meat and she was glad to tell the others about it.  Mrs. Paterno knew very well that cheese is one of the best substitutes for meat that there is.

“Americans eat cheesa after meata; then sick,” she declared with truth.  Her receipt for a risotto Moya wrote down in the blank book in which she was collecting recipes and Mrs. Paterno beamed when it came onto the table.

Chiefly for the purpose of giving the little Italian woman a change of thought, the U. S. C. made a point of providing Rose House with some sort of entertainment every few days.  Once they introduced the inmates to an American hayride, and the four women, with Moya and the older children, screamed with delight as they found themselves moving slowly along on a real load of hay—­for Grandfather Emerson declared that that was the only kind of hayride worth having.

Again they all stowed themselves away in the automobile and went to a pond ten miles away for a day’s picnic.  That proved not to be a success, for everybody was so tired all the next day that there was a nearer approach to disagreement among them than ever happened before.  Mrs. Schuler made up her mind that home—­meaning Rose House—­was the best place for them and that amusements must be found at home and not afield.

CHAPTER IX

A NEW KIND OF GRASS SEED

“Your grand-father told me once about a field he had that was filled with daisies,” said Ethel Blue.  “It looked awfully pretty, but it spoiled the field for a pasture; the cows wouldn’t touch them.”

“I remember that field.  We used to make daisy chains and trim Mother’s room with them,” said Ethel Brown.

“Mr. Emerson tried ploughing up the field and he had men working over it for two seasons, but on the third, up they grew again as gay as you please.  They acted as if he had just been stirring up the soil so they would grow better than ever.”

“Poor Grandfather; he had a hard time with that field.”

“He said he really needed it for a pasture, so he made up his mind that if he couldn’t root out the bad plants, he’d crowd them out.  So he bought some seed of a kind of grass that has large, strong roots, and he sowed it in the field.  As soon as it began to grow he could see that there certainly were not so many daisies there.  He kept on another year and the cows began to look over the fence as if they’d like to get in.  The third year there were so few daisies that they didn’t count.”

“I remember all that,” said Ethel Brown, “but what does it have to do with Mrs. Paterno?”