He was of a clean, saving disposition, and had already paid a number of monthly instalments on two lots far out on the West Side.

His ambition was some day to build a house on them.
In the interval which marked the preparation of the meal Carrie found time to study the flat.

She had some slight gift of observation and that sense, so rich in every woman--intuition.
She felt the drag of a lean and narrow life.

The walls of the rooms were discordantly papered.

The floors were covered with matting and the hall laid with a thin rag carpet.