At Ocock's Auction Rooms he bought a horsehair sofa to match his armchair, a strip of carpet, a bed, a washhand-stand and a looking-glass, and tacked up a calico curtain before the window.

His books, fetched out of the wooden case, were arranged on a brand-new set of shelves; and, when all was done and he stood back to admire his work, it was borne in on him afresh with how few creature-comforts he had hitherto existed.

Plain to see now, why he had preferred to sit out-of-doors rather than within! Now, no one on the Flat had a trimmer little place than he.
In his labours he had the help of a friendly digger--a carpenter by trade--who one evening, pipe in mouth, had stood to watch his amateurish efforts with the jack-plane.

Otherwise, the Lord alone knew how the house would ever have been made shipshape.

Long Jim was equal to none but the simplest jobs; and Hempel, the assistant, had his hands full with the store.