a smoke-hood of painted metal sheeting, with a flange on its outside
edge along which were placed a number of lids.

On his left was a set of shelves filled from top to bottom with pots and
pans and kettles of every possible size and shape, including a cauldron
so huge and heavy that it took two people to get it out with ease from
its place on the bottom shelf. An overwhelming majority of these
utensils were of copper and so highly polished that they shone like suns
setting through a fog bank. Some of them made good toys, but "things for
use and not for play" was an old maxim often quoted by both parents and
grudgingly repeated by Granny herself.

A big sofa, in which the grandmother slept at night stood along the
centre of the wall on the left. The corner beyond held a wall-fast
cupboard so large that it looked like a closet built into the room. It
serves both as pantry and buffet, and was full of things tempting to a
young palate.

In the opposite corner, beyond the window and right by the outside door,
stood an open water barrel holding about twenty gallons. There was no
running water above the ground floor. Every drop had to be carried three
flights of stairs from the courtyard. What was needed for drinking and
cooking was kept in a copper can, two feet high, with a lid on top and a
spout in front that made it look like a badly overgrown tea kettle.
Water for all other uses had to come out of the barrel. To keep both
vessels filled was a heavy task, and waste of water was regarded as
little short of a crime. The sacredness of the barrel and its contents
was a mystery to Keith until he grew old enough to do some of the
carrying. Then he began to understand.