even the most eloquent
beggar could hope to coax a penny. Of what use would it be to try to
persuade him to spend sixty-seven dollars and fifty cents on something
which _I_ had agreed to take care of. _Something_ had to be done,
however, so I wasted most of the day in consulting New York roofers. The
conclusion of the whole matter was that I spent about thirty dollars for
condemned "flies" from "hospital" tents, and had these drawn tightly
over the roof. When this was done the appearance of the house was such
that I longed for an incendiary who would compel me to seek a new
residence; but when Sophronia gazed upon the roof she clapped her hands
joyfully, and exclaimed:

"Pierre, it will be _almost_ as nice as living in a tent, to have one on
the roof; it _looks_ just the same, you know, until your eyes get down
to the edge of it."

There was at least one comfort in living at Villa Valley: the people
were very intelligent and sociable, and we soon made many pleasant
acquaintances. But they all had something dreadful to suggest about our
house. A doctor, who was a remarkably fine fellow, said he would be glad
of my patronage, and didn't doubt that he would soon have it, unless I
had the cellar pumped out at once. Then Mrs. Blathe, the leader of
society in the village, told my wife how a couple who once lived in our
cottage always had chills, though no one else at Villa Valley had the
remotest idea of what a chill was. The several coal dealers in the
village competed in the most lively manner for our custom, and when I
mentioned the matter, in some surprise, to my grocer, he remarked that
_they_ knew what houses needed most coal to keep them warm the year
through, and worked for custom accordingly. A deacon, who was sociable
but solemn, remarked that some of his most sweetly mournful associations
clustered about our cottage--he had followed several of its occupants to
their long homes.

And yet, as the season advanced, and the air was too dry to admit of
dampness anywhere, and the Summer breezes blew in the windows and doors
whole clouds of perfume from the rank thickets of old-fashioned roses
which stood about the garden, we became sincerely attached to the little
cottage. Then heavy masses of honeysuckles and vines which were trained
against the house, grew dense and picturesque with foliage, and
Sophronia would enjoy hours of perfect ecstasy, sitting in an easy-chair
under the evergreens and gazing at the graceful o