lived in just as beautiful as it could be made.

The room had been extended by the building of a large addition
that hung out over the garden below, and was so filled with
windows that it might have been a conservatory. The ones on the
side were thus still nearer the little Church of our Saviour than
they used to be; those in front looked out on the beautiful
harbor, and those in the back commanded a view of nothing in
particular but a little alley--nevertheless, they were
pleasantest of all to Carol, for the Ruggles family lived in the
alley, and the nine little, middle-sized and big Ruggles children
were the source of inexhaustible interest.

The shutters could all be opened and Carol could take a real
sun-bath in this lovely glass-house, or they could all be closed
when the dear head ached or the dear eyes were tired. The carpet
was of soft grey, with clusters of green bay and holly leaves.
The furniture was of white wood, on which an artist had painted
snow scenes and Christmas trees and groups of merry children
ringing bells and singing carols.

Donald had made a pretty, polished shelf and screwed it on to the
outside of the footboard, and the boys always kept this full of
blooming plants, which they changed from time to time; the
head-board, too, had a bracket on either side, where there were
pots of maidenhair ferns.

Love-birds and canaries hung in their golden houses in the
windows, and they, poor caged things, could hop as far from their
wooden perches as Carol could venture from her little white bed.