She  had  spent  a  week  thinking  out  the
furnishing  of  that  room,  and  nearly  all  her
mother's  wedding-present  cheque  upon  it.
'  No,  I  won't  have  a  carpet,'  she  said  when
her  mother  was  dwelling  upon  the  advantages
of  Brussels  over  Wilton  pile,  '  and  no,  I  won't
have  felt,  it's  too  stuffy  looking ;  and  if  you
buy  me  a  proper  tapestry  suite  I  shall  set
fire  to  it.  In  India  people  furnish  sensibly,


Dot  and  Larrie  fall  out.  23

but  in  Australia,  which  must  be  nearly  as  hot,
they  do  everything  in  English  style.'

The  little  mother  ceased  her  suggestions,
and  Dot  worked  her  own  will  with  really
charming  effect.
The  room  was  rather  low,  and  the  walls  and
ceiling  tinted  a  delicate  green.  There  was  a
large  centre  square  of  white  matting,  fringed
at  the  edge  and  a  border  of  pale  green  around
it.  The  three  French  windows  had  long  soft
curtains  of  white  with  pale  green  frills.  No
two  chairs  were  alike.  They  were  of  rattan
and  pith,  and  bamboo  in  quaint  shapes.  One
had  a  flat  sea-green  cushion  of  plush,  one  a
triangular  one  of  silk  with  frills  of  coral  pink;
there  was  a  lovely  pith  sofa  lounge,  wide,
inviting,  with  a  pile  of  pillows  in  cool  Liberty
silk.  In  a  corner  the  piano  stood,  a  beautiful
instrument  though  very  plain.  It  was  not
draped  in  art  muslin,  and  it  had  no  photos  or
bric-a-brac  on  it  to  jingle  and  spoil  the  wonder-
ful music  Dot  brought  forth  from  it.  A  great
lamp  stood  beside  it  with  a  green  crinkled
paper  canopy,  restful  to  the  eye.
24  The  Story  of  a  Baby.
