's choice as inspired by her memory of
Maria's habitation. The Baylors suggested a poetic grayish tint, which
they insisted would look specially pretty through the foliage of the
fine old trees in the front yard. The Tiltmans preferred a light
brown, and the Rushes a bright yellow. As for Mrs. Denslow, she raised
her voice in favor of "white, with green blinds," for, as she wisely
argued, it was not possible to find a more appropriate combination for
a house that had been a farmhouse and that would retain (even after we
had rehabilitated it) the most salient characteristics of a farmhouse.

Alice and I agreed with Mrs. Denslow (as we generally do), and our
determination was confirmed when we subsequently learned, upon inquiry
of Mr. Krome, the painter, that white paint was as expensive a paint as
could be selected. It was our desire, in our choice of paint, to do
nothing likely to lessen or to detract from the lustre of the
princeliness of Mr. Rock's liberality. Mr. Rock had set no limitations
to his munificence; far be it from us to do that which might be
construed wrongfully as inappreciation of that munificence. It was the
part of friendship to premise that Mr. Rock's intentions were large,
and then it behooved us to see that those intentions were carried out
upon a scale of equal scope. We decided, therefore, that the paint
should be white, and that it should be carriage paint.

Uncle Si had advised us to have plenty of light and air admitted to
"the addition" by means of numerous windows. According to the rude
plan he submitted for Alice's approval, "the addition" when completed
would have looked like a collection of windows of every size and shape.
This was before Mr. Rock offered to paint the house. After Mr. Rock's
proposal was made to and accepted by us it occurred to us that it would
result in a considerable saving to us if we were to limit the number of
windows and devote the space (thus economized) to clapboarding. This
would involve a larger expense upon Mr. Rock's part, but it could not
be denied that Mr. Rock could better afford paying for paint than we
could afford paying for window frames and glass.

I think it likely that I should have called on Mr. Rock to learn his
preference in the matter had the "every other Thursday" been nearer at
hand. But Mr. Krome, the painter, and Uncle Si, the boss carpenter,
required a speedy decision, and so we went ahead without consulting our
munificent frie