street line, and a single story, about six feet above it,
reached by a flight of steps. In addition there was an
attic, made by the peak of the roof, and having one small
window in each end. The street in front of the house
was unpaved and unlighted, and the view from it con~
sisted of a few exactly similar houses, scattered here and
there upon lots grown up with dingy brown weeds. The
house inside contained four rooms, plastered white; the
basement was but a frame, the walls being unplastered
and the floor not laid. The agent explained that the
houses were built that way, as the purchasers generally
preferred to finish the basements to suit their own taste.
The attic was also unfinished -- the family had been figur~
ing that in case of an emergency they could rent this attic,
but they found that there was not even a floor, nothing but
joists, and beneath them the lath and plaster of the ceiling
below. All of this, however, did not chill their ardor as
much as might have been expected, because of the volu~
bility of the agent. There was no end to the advantages
of the house, as he set them forth, and he was not silent
for an instant; he showed them everything, down to the
locks on the doors and the catches on the windows, and
how to work them. He showed them the sink in the
kitchen, with running water and a faucet, something
which Teta Elzbieta had never in her wildest dreams
hoped to possess. After a discovery such as that it
would have seemed ungrateful to find any fault, and so
they tried to shut their eyes to other defects.

Still, they were peasant people, and they hung on to
their money by instinct; it was quite in vain that the
agent hinted at promptness -- they would see, they would
see, they told him, they could not decide until they had
had more time. And so they went home again, and
all day and evening there was figuring and debating. It
was an agony to them to have to make up their minds in
a matter such as this. They never could agree all to~
gether; there were so many arguments upon each side,
and one would be obstinate, and no sooner would the rest
have convinced him than it would transpire that his argu~

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p055 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p056w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p057

v?