Pretty chintz curtains hung at the window, and a patch quilt of more colors than were in Joseph's coat covered the little truckle-bed.

The pattern of the wall-paper left nothing to be desired in that line.

On a gray background were small bunches of leaves, unlike any that ever grew in this world; and on every other bunch perched a yellow-bird, pitted with crimson spots, as if it had just recovered from a severe attack of the small-pox.

That no such bird ever existed did not detract from my admiration of each one.

There were two hundred and sixty-eight of these birds in all, not counting those split in two where the paper was badly joined.