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XI
THE LIVING-ROOM
nHE living-room! Shut your eyes a minute
and think what that means: A room to live
in, suited to all human needs; to be sick or
sorry or glad in, as the day's happenings may be;
where one may come back from far-reaching ways, for
"East or West, Hame's best."
Listen a minute while I tell you how I see such a
room: Big and restful, making for comfort first and
always; a little shabby here and there, perhaps, but
all the more satisfactory for that-like an old shoe
that goes on easily. Lots of light by night, and not
too much drapery to shut out the sunlight by day.
Big, welcoming chairs, rather sprawly, and long sofas.
A big fire blazing on the open hearth. Perhaps, if we
are very lucky we may have some old logs from long
since foundered ships, that will flame blue and rose and
green. He must indeed be of a poor spirit who can-
not call all sorts of visions from such a flame!
There should be a certain amount of order, because
you cannot really rest in a disorderly place, but there
should be none of the formality of the drawing-room.
Formality should be used as a sort of foundation on
which the pleasant workaday business of the living-
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