"Yes, in the dark, with a window behind my back. Oh! Jack, why didn't
you get a wife before you planned your house?"

"I did try."

"You did! You never mentioned it to me before. What is this little room
for?"

"Why, nothing in particular. It came so, I suppose--part of the hall,
you know; but it wouldn't be of any use in the hall, so I made a room
of it. It will hold a cot bed if we should happen to have a house full
of company."

"It will never be needed for that with three other guest rooms; but I
see what can be done. You know I promised not to make any alterations;
but destruction isn't alteration, and as this little room is beside the
front chamber, with only the little cupboards between, a part of the
partition between the rooms can be destroyed. There will be no need of
a door; a portière will be better, and I can use the small room for a
dressing-room and closet. So _that_ is nicely arranged; and while you
are marking where the partition is to be cut away I will explore the
first story."

[Illustration: ENLARGED BY DESTRUCTION.]

Now, the stairs were built in a very common fashion, having a sharp
turn at the top, which made the steps near the balustrade exceedingly
steep and narrow. Jill's foot slipped on the top step and down she
went, feet foremost, never stopping till she reached the hall floor
below. Jack, hearing the commotion, ran to the rescue, caught his foot