HYLAND
ow would it do for a smoking-room?'
'Just the very place! only, you know, Roger, you must not think of
smoking in the house. I am almost afraid that having just a plain,
common man around, let alone a smoking man, will upset Aunt
Hannah. She is New England— Vermont New England— boiled
down.'
'You leave Aunt Hannah to me; I'll find her tender side. I'm going
to ask her about the old sea-captain and the yellow calico.'
'Not yellow calico— blue chintz.'
'Well, yellow shell then.'
'No, no! don't mix it up so; you won't know yourself what to
expect, and that's half the fun.'
'Now you tell me again exactly what to expect; to tell the truth,
I didn't half hear about it the other day; I was wool-gathering.
It was something queer that happened when you were a child,
wasn't it?'
'Something that began to happen long before that, and kept
happening, and may happen again; but I hope not.'
'What was it?'
H
