devoted my attention to out-of-door affairs--by which I mean
care of the lawn, of the flower-beds, and of the vegetable patches--I
had a comparatively tranquil existence. Having transferred the base of
my operations (or perhaps I should say my observations) indoors, I
found numerous disagreements and misunderstandings to distract me. I
was not long in finding out that there were two factions (so to speak)
in charge of the department of the interior. Parties of the first part
were Alice and all our feminine neighbors; party of the second part was
Uncle Si.

You see, there had never been anything more explicit than a verbal
understanding between Uncle Si and Alice; the two had talked the matter
all over at the start, and they agreed upon every theory so nicely that
I do not wonder they decided that a written contract was not necessary.
Uncle Si did some figuring which resulted in his saying that he would
reconstruct the old house and build an addition for the even sum of two
thousand dollars. Very few specifications were made, but there was a
pretty clear verbal understanding reached, and the consequence was as
distinct a misunderstanding as the work progressed. Most of the
trouble was over the detail of hardwood. Alice was sure that Uncle Si
had agreed to put in hardwood floors and trimmings throughout; Uncle Si
expostulated that he had never thought of so preposterous a project,
since it would have bankrupted him as sure as his name was Silas Plum.

The result was that Alice never went near the new house that she did
not groan and moan and declare that Georgia pine was simply the
horridest wood in all the world, while, upon the other hand, Uncle Si
speedily came to regard Alice as an arch enemy who was seeking to trick
and impoverish him. The neighbors sided with Alice, of course. They
freely expressed the conviction that Uncle Si and all other contractors
would bear constant watching. It is perhaps needless for me to add
that Uncle Si regarded all neighbors as impertinent and mischievous
intermeddlers.

I will confess that of all the workmen about the place the plumbers
interested me most. They came late and quit early, and much of the
intervening time was spent in asking one another questions and in
ordering one another about. No tool was at hand when it was required.
If the pliers were needed the whole gang of plumbers stopped work to
hunt for the missing instrument, which was sometimes found in one
rem