It was furnished with a deal table and chairs, and a small square of green carpet laid upon the sanded floor.

It had three latticed windows looking westward, and one of those odd grates I have mentioned, large enough to cook a dinner.

We kept it filled with logs, and in the evenings, after we had drawn the curtains in the parlour, set the tea-table, and made Mrs.Hollingford comfortable on the sofa for an hour's rest, we three retreated to our school-room for a chat in the firelight.

Here John joined us when he happened to come home early, and many a happy hour we passed, four of us sitting round the blazing logs, talking and roasting apples.

We told stories, tales of the outer world, and legends of the country around us.