i at once paid the small fortune required for these 'fine chambers , ' and , asking for a quantity of-candles , that i might write late into the night as i am doing now , i went up the crooked little stair and found that this was a tolerable place with a decent straw mattress , not too filthy all things considered and one of them being that this is not amsterdam , and a small hearth of which i have no need on account of the beautiful september weather , and the windows though small do indeed look out upon the pyre .