l-dressed
necessities. But it is time for those children to be in bed."

CHAPTER XX.

A DOUBLE CONCLUSION.

"Now Jill," this was half an hour later, the children were asleep and
the gas was lighted, "let us by way of amusement draw plans of a castle
in Spain. Let us forget all the houses that ever were built and fancy
ourselves, not Adam and Eve, with the responsibility of setting the
housekeeping pace for the rest of the human family nor Robinson Crusoe,
whose domestic arrangements were somewhat handicapped, but a wise pair
of semi-Bourbons, at the end of the 19th century, who forget nothing
old but are willing to learn and adopt anything new, provided it is
good."

"All right; go ahead."

"In the first place our castle will not be destructible by fire or
water. All the walls will be of masonry and the floor beams will be of
steel. There will be nothing to invite moth or rust."

"Nor burglars; not so much as a silver spoon or a candlestick."

"I have always been sorry that the roof of this house was not
fireproof, but I suppose it would have cost too much, though the
architect said it might have been made like the floors if we would
consent to have it flat."

"Moral: if you want a roof of the mountainous variety you must either
pay for it or run the risk of being burned out on top. But what do
castles in Spain care for the cost? We can have fireproof roofs in
miniature copy of Alpine peaks or we can use them for billiard tables
and croquet grounds."

"Really," Jill continued, "there is no good reason for steep roofs.
Snow is more troublesome on the ground around the house than on top of
it, if it will stay there, and a very slight slope will carry off the
rain. I fancy steep roofs must have been invented when builders used
such clumsy materials for covering that they were obliged to lay them
on a steep pitch in order to keep out the water. Shingles of course
last longer the steeper the roof."

"If that's the case they ought to last forever on the second story
walls of our house, where they are straight up and down. When you come
to think of it, high roofs must be built now-a-days mainly for show,
incidentally they cover the house. First beautiful, then useful. How
large will it be?"

"What, the roof?"

"No, the whole thing; how many rooms will it have?"

"That will depend on the size of the family. Not less than ten nor more
than forty. Ten rooms will answer for two people, and more than forty