were
massive; and the locks and hinges upon them, and also the andirons and
the shovel and tongs, were of the most ancient and curious construction.
The first thing which the children did, on being ushered into one of
these old halls, was to walk all about, and examine these various
objects in detail. Rollo made drawings of a great many of them in his
drawing book, to bring home and show to people in America.

The bed rooms opened out from this great hall, on the different sides of
it. There were generally, but not always, two beds in each. According to
the agreement, Mrs. Gray had her first choice of these rooms. She chose
one, if possible, which had one wide bed in it, and one narrow one. The
wide one was for herself and Rosie; the narrow one was for Susannah.

Mr. George came next in the order of choice, and he generally took a
room which had only one bed in it, leaving another room with two single
beds in it for the two boys. They always had a fire in the great hall
every evening. Mrs. Gray usually went to her room with Rosie and
Susannah at half past eight, leaving Mr. George and the two boys in the
hall. The first evening of the journey--that is, the evening of the
night spent at Arezzo--Mr. George told Rollo, as soon as Mrs. Gray had
gone, that he had some bad news to tell him.

"What is it?" asked Rollo.

"It is that I am going to make a rule for you, that every night, from
and after the time that Mrs. Gray goes into her room, you are not to
have any conversation with any body."

"Why not, uncle George?" asked Rollo.

"Because I want to have the room still, so that I can write. I have
journals and letters to write, and so have you,--and so I suppose has
Josie; and the evening, after Mrs. Gray and Rosie have gone to their
room, will be the best time to appropriate to the work. You can do your
own work of this kind at that time or not, just as you please; but if
you do not do it, you must not interrupt me in doing mine."

"I suppose that is a rule for me and Josie too," said Rollo.

"No," said Mr. George, "it is for you alone."

"Why is it not a rule for Josie," said Rollo, "as much as for me?"

"Because I have no authority to make any rules for Josie," replied Mr.
George. "I have no authority over him at all, but only over you."

"But, uncle George," said Rollo, "if you are busy writing, and I am not
allowed to talk, and Mrs. Gray and Rosie have gone to bed, Josie will
not have any body to talk to."