“Oh, no,” said Cornelia, looking worried, “of course not; but really I’m afraid I didn’t make it plain to your wife I haven’t any idea of doing anything now—that is, I don’t suppose it would be possible—I haven’t any money, and won’t have for a while.” “That’s all right,” said the man, looking around the house alertly; “it don’t cost nothing to estimate. I just love to estimate. What was it you was calculating to do when you do build over?” “Oh!” said Cornelia, abashed. “I don’t know that I had really thought it all out, but this house is so cramped and ugly I was just wishing I could take down this partition and throw the parlor and hall all into one. Do you think the ceiling would stand that? I suppose it’s a foolish idea, for I don’t know a thing about building; but this would really make a very pretty room if the hall wasn’t cut off this way.” The man stepped into the doorway, and looked up, eying the ceiling speculatively, with his mouth open. “Why, yes, you _could_ do that,” he drawled. “It’s a pretty long span, but you could do it. You’d have to use a coupla colyooms to brace her up, but that’s done—without you used a I beam. That you could do.” “An eye beam! What’s an eye beam?” asked Cornelia, interested. “Why, it’s an iron beam running along underneath. You might be able to get her under out of sight, but most likely you’d have to have her below the ceiling. You could box her in, and you could make some more of ’em, and have a beamed ceiling if you want.” “Oh, a beamed ceiling! But that would be expensive. How much does an eye beam cost?” “Oh, I should say a matter of fifteen or eighteen dollars fer one that long,” said the man, letting his eye rove back and forth over the ceiling as if in search of a possible foot or two more of length concealed somewhere. “Oh!” said Cornelia again wistfully. “And would it cost much to put it in?” She was trying to think just how much of that money was lying in her drawer upstairs. “Well, not so much if I did it evenings. That would make a mighty nice room out of it, as you say. I’d be willing to let you have the stuff it took at cost, and I might be able to get a second-handed I beam. Come to think, there is one down to the shop a man ordered, and then done ’ithout. I might get it for you as low as five dollars if it would be long enough.” He took out his foot rule and began to measure, and Cornelia drew her breath quickly. It seemed too good to be true! If she only could make over that room before her mother got home! “What else was it you was calculatin’ to do?” the man asked, looking up suddenly from the paper on which he had set down the measurement. “I’ll look at that there I beam in the morning when I go down to the shop. I believe she’s long enough. Was there anything else?”