ng, absolutely nothing. You are
already in perfect accord. Jim says the house is only half large
enough. You say you want one more room. The house is now just
thirty-three feet long and thirty-three feet wide; add a new room
thirty-three feet square; you will have the one extra room, and Jim
will have the house doubled in size. Isn't that right?"

"Yes," said Jill; "It is exactly what I should have suggested if you
had given me a chance. Do you remember the charming room in the old
Florentine palace, where we spent the winter, and how we enjoyed it,
and finally measured it for the benefit of some other Americans who
intended to build a new house as soon as they got home? That was just
thirty-three feet square and eighteen feet high. There was a grand
piano in one corner, in another a group of chairs with bookcases, in
another sofas and chairs and tables scattered about, so that in effect
it was equal to several small rooms. Indeed one of our party described
it in a home letter as a magnificent apartment one hundred feet each
way. It would accommodate several callers, with their different groups
of friends, and it was of course a capital place for music and dancing.
In your new room you will have one corner for the children and another
for yourselves. The Dorcas society can meet at one side while your
little Jack and his friends are playing games at the other. It won't be
many years before Bessie will claim a large section, including one of
the bay windows, for her own use."

"I think I hear the baby crying. Thank you, I'll talk it over with Jim.
Good night."

"Do you think they will do it?" Jack inquired.

"Of course they will; it is by far the most sensible thing. As a family
they are always together and always will be, and one large room will
suit them better than several small ones. Perhaps it will be the best
thing for us, until we can build our castle in Spain. It certainly will
not cost as much as making over and enlarging the rooms we have."

"That is true, and it is my impression that the wisest way to enlarge
an old house is to nail up the windows, seal up the doors and go ahead
with the additions without taking out the nails or breaking the seals
till it is all done; that would save time, money and patience."

"Yes, and more than that," said Jill, "it would preserve the charm of
the old house which grows stronger every year until the loss of the
familiar rooms and their hallowed associations seems like p