d to make the most of this situation, and
Ted thinks it impossible to contrive a more charming arrangement for
hall, parlor and dining-room. They use the parlor as a common
sitting-room, and the hall still more commonly, especially in warm
weather. Ted doesn't realize that half the charm of the house lies in
its adaptation to the site."

[Illustration: THE FIRST FLOOR OF TED'S HOUSE.]

"That ought to be the case with every country or suburban house."

"It certainly will not fit our lot, and it seems to me best suited for
a summer home or for a warm climate."

Here Jack was called to his office, and Jill withdrew to attend to some
household duties, first requesting the architect to redraw the plans so
as to show accurately the construction and details.

"That is to say," said Jack, "while Jill makes a pudding for dinner and
I write a business letter of three lines, you are to lay out in
complete shape the plans for a house containing all the modern
abominations and improvements, that will cost ten thousand dollars,
occupy two years in building and last forever. That's a modest
request."

"Not extravagant compared with the demands often made upon domestic
architects, for it involves no downright contradictions. I am not asked
to show how a house worth ten thousand dollars can be built for five,
or to break the Golden Rule, or to change the multiplication table and
the cardinal points of the compass."

CHAPTER VII.

BE HONEST AND KEEP WARM.

The architect went home to translate the instructions he had received
into the language that builders understand. Jack and Jill established
themselves in the house that Jack built. The proposed amendments were
indefinitely postponed; Jill having consented to take the house
temporarily as she had taken Jack permanently--for better or
worse--only claiming her reserved right, in the case of the house, of
privately finding all the fault she pleased. Even the staircase, so
favorable to a swift descent, remained unchanged, and in their own room
the bed stood squarely in the middle of the floor. Jack averred that
this was intended when the house was planned, because the air is so
much better in the centre of a room, and there is not so much danger of
being struck by lightning.

One day there came a cold, gloomy rain on the wings of a raw east wind,
and after Jack had gone to his office it occurred to Jill that a fire
on the hearth in the parlor, which they used as a commo