As I was preparing supper at dusk I made an unhappy discovery that our cooking pot is leaky near the bottom. I saw the fire beneath through the holes when I ladled out the boiled water to fill the thermos. Not until then did I begin to see the reason why there was only a small quantity of water left in the pot at noon after mother heated lunch with it. The old pot was given by brother months ago. Mother put it to use soon in spite of my opposition because she thought its inner side smoother than the one we had been using.