“Life is so much richer when our environment is illuminated and glorified—­”

“By tapers,” said Jack as he bade her an affectionate good-night.

CHAPTER X.

MORE QUESTIONS OF FIRE AND WATER.

“We must devote this evening exclusively to the new house,” said Jill, as Jack started for his office.  “The architect is waiting for instructions, and every day we lose now will give us another day of vexation and impatience when we are waiting for the house to be finished.”

“That’s true, and it’s a chronological fact that house-builders often forget.  Very well, I’ll come home early.  Will Bessie be here?”

“Certainly.  She has come for a long visit.”

“Then I shall bring up Jim again.  One-half Bess says he can’t understand, and he doesn’t approve of the other half; but we couldn’t keep him away if we tried.  So we’ll invite him to come.  It’s great fun to hear Bessie’s comments and witness Jim’s helplessness.”

“If you are going to devote yourself to Jim and Bessie,” said Jill severely, “I may as well answer these questions without consulting you at all.”

“Oh, pray don’t do that.  Give me a chance to express my opinions.  Some of them are strikingly bold and original.  Besides, you will need me to conduct the meeting.”

It happened, accidentally of course, that Bessie’s evening dress was of a color that looked well by gaslight, and no objection was made to the unnatural illumination.

Jill took up the architect’s letter, where she had left it, at the conclusion of the blind question.  “Another point that was mentioned when I was at your father’s house must be decided soon:  Shall there be gutters to catch the water from the roof, with pipes of some sort to convey it to the ground, or shall it be left to take care of itself?  If there are none, the ground around the house should pitch sharply away from the walls and a slight depression should be formed, into which the water would fall.  This shallow ditch should be perhaps two feet wide, as the drops will not always come down in straight lines.  It may be paved with small stones or bricks, between which the grass will grow, or it maybe more carefully lined with asphalt paving.  If it is desired to conduct the water to a certain point, this drain can descend slightly toward it, and, if the lawn will not be injured by an occasional inundation, even the shallow ditch may be omitted, making merely a one-sided slope, hardened to prevent the water from wearing a ragged, unsightly channel around the house.  The advantages of disposing of the water in this way, dispensing with the gutters, are its economy and its permanence.  Whatever the material may be of which they are made, gutters attached to the eaves or roof cause more or less trouble and expense from the time they are put in place till the house is given up to the owls and the bats.  They are liable to be corroded