It had a stone mantelpiece and a slate hearthstone on which Francie could draw pictures with chalk. Next to the stove was a water boiler which got hot when the fire was going. Often on a col day, Francie came in chilled and put her arms around the boiler and pressed her frosty cheek gratefully against its warm silveriness. Next to the boiler was a pair of soapstone washtubs with a hinged wooden cover. The partition could be removed and the two thrown into one for a bath tub. It didn't make a very good bath tub. Sometimes when Francie sat in it, the cover banged down on her head. michael kors on sale
The bottom was rubbly and she came out of what shoul have been a refreshing bath, all sore from sitting on that wet roughness. Then there were four faucets to contenwith. No matter how the child tried to remember that they were inflexibly there and wouldn't give way, she would jump up suenly out of the soapy water and get her back whacked good on a faucet. Francie had a perpetual angry welt on her back. Following the kitchen, there were two bedrooms, one leading into the other. An airshaft dimensioned like a coffin was built into the bedrooms. The windows were small and dingy gray. michael kors bags for cheap You could open an airshaft window, maybe, if you used a chisel and hammer. But when you did, you were rewarded with a blast of cold dank air. The airshaft was topped by a miniature, slant-roofed skylight whose heavy, opaque, wrinkled glass was protecte from breakage by heavy, iron netting. The sides were corrugate d iron slats. This arrangement supposedly supplied light and air to the bedrooms. But the heavy glass, iron fencing and dirt of many years refused to filter the light through. The openings in the sides were choked with dust, soot and cobwebs. michael kors outlet online
No air could come in, but, stubbornly enough, rain and snow could get in. On stormy days, the wooden bottom of the airshaft was wet an smoky and gave out a tomb-y smell. The airshaft was a horrible invention. Even with the windows tightly sealed, it served as a sounding box an you could hear everybody's business. Rats scurried around the bottom. There was always the danger of fire. A match absently tossed into the airshaft by a drunken teamster under the impression that he was throwing it into the yard or street would set the house afire in a moment.
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