Afterward it fell out as I had proposed; and not waiting to make any change in the Appletop house, I went there to live, bringing Cousin Rolland from Rock Island, as we had talked. Now, having a good deal of time on my hands, for my studies were not so much of a burden as I had thought, I soon began to think of building the new home, the old one being hardly fit to live in. The planning of this, however, I found required more time and study than I had thought, and being in doubt about nearly everything pertaining to such a place, I was compelled to seek Constance’s aid, and this almost every hour of the day. First of all we had to locate the building, and this with reference to the trees and lawns and the streets that ran past the park. This required a deal of time and much walking back and forth, for we were both agreed that the matter of location was everything. The labor, too, being tiresome in the extreme, we to rest ourselves would oftentimes have refreshments brought and served on the lawn, or in some friendly arbor. Thus, not being in any hurry, a thing I thought very simple at first grew each day more difficult, so that in the end it required quite a year for its fulfillment. When we had fixed upon the location, the plans had next to be drawn, and that there might be no mistake or lack of attention we kept them in our own hands. As we were new to such things, and yet aware how important it was, we found it necessary to make many changes, often tearing up the plans we had made and beginning anew, so little satisfied were we with what we had done. At the start we determined that the house should have a wide veranda supported by pillars, as Mrs. Singleton had said. Then the hall came next; and this, as regards width and depth and the location of the stairs, caused us a world of planning. After that the reception-room had to be agreed upon, and this with reference to the drawing-room; but both of these we got fixed finally to our liking. The living-room, most important of all, you will say, after making the circuit of the building in search of a fit place, we at last located on the sunny side of the house, where we should have put it at first. The dining-room we determined from the very beginning to make extra big, in the belief that entertaining one’s friends tends to keep people young, if not carried to an excess; and thus it was. The sleeping-rooms and closets and things of that sort, as regards number and arrangement, occasioned us a deal of study, but finally all were arranged to our liking. The stable, last of all, we hid away behind a clump of pines, and so constructed that we could add to it, and this without destroying the symmetry of the structure, for we thought that a barn, being almost as conspicuous as the dwelling, should be gracefully planned, so far as it was possible to have it.