PRELIMINARY 



professional architect to bother me, and 

 a contractor who was amiability itself to 

 carry out my wishes, I had everything my 

 own sweet way. Seated on a nail keg, I 

 watched the whole fascinating process, and, 

 if doors and windows did not look right 

 when they were in place, we just took 

 them out again and put them somewhere 

 else ! The stairs and partitions I drew 

 out on the floor as each story went up, 

 with sticks, or strings, or anything that 

 came handy, and I fear there was not 

 much of the architect's plan left when 

 the cottage was finally finished! We did 

 not even build it all at once, but started 

 with five rooms, and year by year added 

 to it as we felt inclined. So the house 

 grew as the garden did, little by little. 

 I had, however, provided for this 

 contingency when constructing the original 

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