midday
Oonah generally waits upon the table , and Molly cooks ; at least she cooks now and then when she is not engaged with Peter in the vegetable garden or the stable . But whatever happens , Mrs. Mullarkey , as a descendant of one of the Irish kings , is to be looked upon only as an inspiring ideal , inciting one to high and ever higher flights of happy incapacity . Benella ostensibly oversees the care of our rooms , but she is comparatively helpless in such a kingdom of misrule . Why demand clean linen when there is none ; why seek for a towel at midday when it is never ironed until evening ; how sweep when a broom is all inadequate to the task ? Salemina 's usual remark , on entering a humble hostelry anywhere , is : `` If the hall is as dirty as this , what must the kitchen be ! Order me two hard-boiled eggs , please ! '' `` Use your ` science , ' Benella , '' I say to that discouraged New England maiden , who has never looked at her philosophy from its practical or humorous side .