The house had a basement, about two feet below the 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 consisted 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 figuring 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 volubility 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 together; 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 arguments had caused another to waver.  Once, in the evening, when they were all in harmony, and the house was as good as bought, Szedvilas came in and upset them again.  Szedvilas had no use for property owning.  He told them cruel stories of people who had been done to death in this “buying a home” swindle.  They would be almost sure to get into a tight place and lose all their money; and there was no end of expense that one could never foresee; and the house might be good-for-nothing from top to bottom—­how was a poor man to know?  Then, too, they would swindle you with the contract—­and how was a poor man to understand anything about a contract?  It was all nothing but robbery, and there was no safety but in keeping out of it.  And pay rent? asked Jurgis.  Ah, yes, to be sure, the other answered,