Ethel Morton at Sweetbriar Lodge Part 4

"I suspect they're both right," Helen decided. "Probably they're hollow tile made of terra-cotta."

"But I thought terra-cotta was lighter brown and smooth. They make little images out of terra-cotta," insisted Dorothy.

"I've seen those," agreed Margaret, "but I suppose there can be different qualities of terra-cotta just as there are different qualities of china."

"This stuff is fireproof, any way," explained Dorothy. "I remember now hearing Mother and the architect talking about it. And they said something about a 'dead air s.p.a.ce.' That must mean the holes."

"What's dead air s.p.a.ce for?" inquired Ethel Blue.

"I think it dries up the dampness, or keeps it out so that it doesn't get into the house."

"These are useful old blocks, then, even if they aren't pretty," decided Helen, patting the ugly pile.

Mr. Anderson strolled toward them again after giving various directions to his men.

"Just how is this tile used?" inquired Dorothy, as he seemed to be more at leisure now.

"We build a wall of this hollow tile," he answered; "then we put the plaster right on to it. Do you see that the outside is rather rough? That is so the plaster will have something to take hold of. We mix it up of cement and lime and sand and put on three coats. The first one is mixed with hair, and mashed on hard so that it will stick and it is roughened so that the next coat will stick to it."

"Is the next coat made of the same stuff?"

"Without the hair; and the third coat is as thin as cream and is flowed on to make a smooth-looking outside finish."

"That's a lot of work," commented Dorothy.

"That's not all we're going to do to your walls; Mrs. Smith wants them to be a trifle yellowish in tone--a little warmer than the natural color of the plaster--so we're going to wash on some mineral matter that will give them color and waterproof them at the same time."

"Killing two birds," murmured Helen.

"Then the whole house will look plastery except the roof and chimneys,"

said Ethel Brown.

"Including the roof and chimneys," returned Mr. Anderson. "We're going to use concrete s.h.i.+ngles--"

"Concrete s.h.i.+ngles! Doesn't that sound funny!"

"They are colored, so they look like green or red s.h.i.+ngles."

"What color is Mother going to have?"

"Dark green. The chimney is to be made of reinforced concrete."

"'Reinforced' must mean 'strengthened,' but how do you strengthen it?"

inquired Margaret.

"You've seen how we build a mold to pour the concrete in; inside of the mold we build a sort of cage of steel rods. Don't you see that when the concrete hardens it would be almost impossible for such a reinforced piece of work to break through?"

"Couldn't an earthquake break it?"

"An earthquake might give a piece of solid concrete such a twist that it would crack through, but suppose the crack found itself up against a steel rod? Don't you think it would complicate matters?"

The girls thought it would.

"I'm awfully glad our chimney is going to be reinforced," Dorothy exclaimed, "because up on this knoll we're going to feel the wind a lot and it would be horrid if the chimney should fall down!"

"It certainly would," agreed the Ethels, but Mr. Anderson a.s.sured them that they need not be afraid of any accident of the sort with a reinforced concrete chimney.

"I've seen skysc.r.a.pers going up in New York," said Margaret "and all the beams were of steel. Are you going to use steel beams here?"

"No, we don't often use steel construction for small houses, but this house is going to be more fireproof than most small houses even if it does have wooden beams. You watch it as it goes on and notice all the points that make for fireproofness. It will interest you," Mr. Anderson promised as he walked away.

The girls all washed their hands as well as they could with the hose with which the workmen watered the concrete mixture, but they had nothing to dry them on and they walked down the road holding them before them and waving them in the breeze.

"Mother will think we are crazy if she happens to be looking out of the window," said Dorothy.

"My aunt sent you a message, Dorothy," said Margaret.

"What aunt? I didn't know you had an aunt," replied Dorothy.

"She seems like a new aunt to us; James and I haven't seen her since we were little bits of things."

"Where does she live?" asked Ethel Blue.

"In Was.h.i.+ngton. She's an interior decorator and she's awfully busy, so when she has had to come on to New York to buy materials or to see people she has never had a chance to stay with us."

"Is she going to make a visit this time?" inquired Ethel Brown.

"She has come for a long visit now. She has a commission to decorate a house in Englewood. It's going to take her several weeks, and then she wants to rest and do some studying and to make the rounds of the decorators in the city, so it will be several months before she goes back again."

"That's nice," said Ethel Blue politely, and she was glad she had thought so because Margaret said at once, "We think it's splendid. She's a young aunt, lots and lots younger than Mother, and James and I think she's loads of fun."

"What was her message to me?" asked Dorothy.

"O, we were telling her about the United Service Club and the things we did--sending gifts to the war orphans and celebrating holidays and our plans for helping some poor women and children in the summer and for taking care of the Belgian baby. She was awfully interested and said she felt as if she knew all of you people and the Watkinses quite well, we talked about you so much. Then we told her about Dorothy's house, and how Mrs. Smith had said we might all give our opinions about the decorating, and she asked us to tell you that she'd be very glad indeed to act as consulting decorator when you come to the inside work."

"Why, that's awfully sweet of her!" exclaimed Dorothy. "Mother isn't going to have a regular decorator, and I know she'll be immensely pleased to have Miss--what is your aunt's name?"

"Graham; she's our Aunt Daisy!"

"--to have Miss Graham give us advice and 'check up' on our suggestions."

"By the time your house is ready for that part she will have finished her Englewood house; but she said she'd be glad to come over and see the house and the plans any time when she was free for the afternoon, and she hoped you'd consult her about everything you wanted to."

"Daisy is a pretty name, isn't it?" Ethel Blue murmured to herself. "I wish one of us was named Daisy."

"Her name is really Margaret; I'm named after her. Daisy is the nickname for Margaret, you know."

"It's a lovely name," said Ethel Blue again.