The House that Jill Built after Jacks had Proved a Failure | Page 3

of a thankless
task, a most agreeable entertainment. Seldom, indeed, have wit and wisdom been so
happily blended as in these pages. The narrative that runs through the whole constitutes a
silver thread of merriment on which the pearls of sense are strung with lavish freedom.
Every page is sure to contain the subject-matter for a hearty laugh close-linked with a
lesson that may well be conned by the most serious-minded. The philosophy of
home-building and home-improving is expounded with a subtlety of humor and an
aptness of illustration as rare as they are relishable.
There are three classes of people to whom this little volume with its quaint descriptions
and wise suggestions will be peculiarly welcome.
_First_--Those who contemplate, at some time, the building of a home. It matters not
whether it is to be humble or palatial, "The House that Jill Built" will be found to contain
not only the most valuable suggestions, but a humorous gaiety that will be sure to add
pleasure to this duty.
_Second_--Those who desire at any time to enlarge, modify or improve the homes in
which they live; for they will find very forcibly illustrated in its pages the principles
which should govern such modification.
_Third_--Those who, like the writer hereof, have suffered in purse and comfort from the
lack of such a pleasant and philosophical treatise, and who will be glad to see how their
blunders might have been avoided.
"The House that Jill Built" is founded on the rock of common sense. It does not profess to
tell the prospective builder how to be his own architect and carpenter; it does not fit him
out with a plan ready made and tested--by somebody else: but deftly and easily it leads
him to think about the essential elements of the home he desires until, almost
unconsciously, he finds himself prepared to give such directions to an honest architect as
will secure for his home, convenience, safety and that peculiar fitness which is the chief
element of beauty in domestic architecture. It is not so much for what is taught as for
what is suggested that the book is valuable. What the author has written is perhaps not
more remarkable than the peculiar art with which he compels the reader to think for
himself. "The House that Jill Built" may fairly be said to take the first place among the
many works that are designed to make our domestic architecture what it ought to be--the
art by which the house-builder may erect a home adapted to his needs, commensurate
with his means, in harmony with its surroundings and conducive to the health and
comfort of its occupants. What the author's pen has so well described his pencil has
illustrated with equal happiness.

In penance for the lack of faith displayed at the outset and in hearty approval of the pages
that follow, the Editor has written these words.
A.W. TOURGÉE. PHILADELPHIA, Oct., 1882.

THE HOUSE THAT JILL BUILT.

CHAPTER I.
A WISE FATHER AND A GLAD SON-IN-LAW.
Among the wedding-presents was a small white envelope containing two smaller slips of
paper. On one of these, which was folded around the other, was written,
"A NEW HOUSE, FROM FATHER."
The enclosed slip was a bank-check, duly stamped and endorsed. Did any old wizard's
magic-box ever hold greater promise in smaller compass! Certainly not more than the
bride saw in imagination as she read the figures upon the crisp bit of tissue. Walls, roof
and stately chimneys arose in pleasant pictures before her mental vision. There were
broad windows taking in floods of sunshine; fireplaces that glowed with living flames
and never smoked; lazy lounging places and cosy corners for busy work or quiet study;
sleepy bed-rooms; a kitchen that made housework the finest art and the surest science,
and oh, such closets, such stairways, such comforts! such defiance of the elements, such
security against cold and heat, against fire, flood and tempest! such economy! such
immunity from all the ills that domestic life is heir to, from intractable servants to
sewer-gas!
If some ardent esthete had arrested her flight of fancy by asking whether she found room
for soul-satisfying beauty, she would have dropped from her air-castle, landing squarely
upon her feet, and replied that if her house was comfortable and told no lies it would be
beautiful enough for her--which was saying a great deal, however interpreted, for she
loved beauty, as all well-balanced mortals ought, and she would have been conspicuously
out of place in a house that was not beautiful.
Perhaps I ought to explain that the house that Jack built, intending to establish Jill as its
mistress when it should be completed, had proved most unsatisfactory to that extremely
practical young woman. In consequence, she had obstinately refused