It had the sun all day long through a huge bay window that seemed to have been made for a window-seat; there were admirable, well-lighted spaces on the walls for casts and pictures, and the mantelpiece was charming, extremely high, and made of oak; in a word, the exact sitting-room that Vandover had in mind.

Already he saw himself settled there as comfortably and snugly as a kernel in a nutshell.

It was true that upon investigation he found that the grate had been plastered up and the flue arranged for a stove.

But for that matter there were open-grate stoves to be had that would permit the fire to be seen and that would look just as cheerful as a grate.

He had even seen such a stove in the window of a hardware store downtown, a tiled stove with a brass fender and with curious flamboyant ornaments of cast-iron--a jewel of a stove.
For two days Vandover hesitated between these two suites, undecided whether he should sacrifice his studio for his sitting-room, or his sitting-room for his studio.