"Seek no farther," she cried dramatically. "We have crossed the Rubicon
and found the Golden Fleece! This is the place of all others for our Tea
Club meeting, and it doesn't matter what the rest of the house may be
like. Patty, you will kindly consider the matter settled."
"I'll consider anything you like," said Patty; "and before breakfast,
too, if you'll only hurry up and get out of this damp, musty old place.
I'm shivering myself to pieces."
"Oh, it isn't cold," said Laura Russell; "and while we're here, let's go
through the house."
"Yes," said Marian; "examine it carefully, lest some of its numerous
advantages should escape your notice. Observe the hardwood floors, the
magnificent mahogany stair-rail, and the lofty ceilings!"
The old floors were creaky, worm-eaten, and dusty; the stair-rail was in
a most dilapidated condition, and the ceilings were low and smoky; so
Marian scored her points.
"But it is antique," said Ethel Holmes, with the air of an auctioneer.
"Ah, ladies, what would you have? It is a fine specimen of the Colonial
Empire period, picked out here and there with Queen Anne. The mantels,
ah,--the mantels are dreams in marble."
"Nightmares in painted wood, you mean," said Lillian.
"But so roomy and expansive," went on Ethel. "And the wall-papers!
Note the fine stage of complete dilapidation left by the moving
finger of Time."
"The wall-papers are all right," said Patty. "They look as if they'd peel
off easily.
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