t in the whole morning on the
shop. This is a preliminary tour of investigation. Come and see the
rest of it. This way to the living-room!"

The living-room led from the shop--a big square room, empty now, of
course. Maida limped over to the window. "Oh, oh, oh!" she cried;
"did you ever see such a darling little yard?"

"It surely is little," Billy agreed, "not much bigger than a pocket
handkerchief, is it?"

And yet, scrap of a place as the yard was, it had an air of
completeness, a pretty quaintness. Two tiny brick walks curved from
the door to the gate. On either side of these spread out microscopic
flower-beds, crowded tight with plants. Late-blooming dahlias and
asters made spots of starry color in the green. A vine, running over
the door to the second story, waved like a crimson banner dropped
from the window.

"The old lady must have been fond of flowers," Billy Potter said. He
squinted his near-sighted blue eyes and studied the bunches of
green. "Syringa bush in one corner. Lilac bush in the other.
Nasturtiums at the edges. Morning-glories running up the fence.
Sunflowers in between. My, won't it be fun to see them all racing up
in the spring!"

Maida jumped up and down at the thought. She could not jump like
other children. Indeed, this was the first time that she had ever
tried. It was as if her feet were like flat-irons. Granny Flynn
turned quickly away and Billy bit his lips.

"I know just how I'm going to fix this room up for you, Petronilla,"
Billy said, nodding his head mysteriously. "Now let's go into the
kitchen."

The kitchen led from the living-room. Billy exclaimed when he saw it
and Maida shook her hands, but it was Granny who actually screamed
with delight.

Much bigger than the living-room, it had four windows with sunshine
pouring in through every one of them. But it was not the four
windows nor yet the sunshine that made the sensation--it was the
stone floor.

"We'll put a carpet on it if you think it's too cold, Granny," Billy
suggested immediately.

"Oh, lave it be, Misther Billy," Granny begged. "'Tis loike me ould
home in Oireland. Sure 'tis homesick Oi am this very minut looking
at ut."

"All right," Billy agreed cheerfully. "What you say goes, Granny.
Now upstairs to the sleeping-rooms."

To get to the second floor they climbed a little stairway not more
than three feet wide, with steps very high, most of them triangular
in shape because the stairway had to turn so ofte