"We do not need chairs, father," said Polly. "Peter and I will sit on the floor. I will sit next to grandmother."
"I will sit next to mother," said Peter.
"When I was little," said grandmother, "I liked to sit on the floor. I thought it quite soft enough. Now that I am older, I like chairs better."
"If you sit in a chair, it is never in the right place," said Polly. "A floor is always in the right place. It is a big seat, too."
"What a good fireplace this is," said the Story Lady. "It is so large that you can put real logs into it. And it never smokes."
"Just think of long ago, when there were no stoves," said grandmother. "How would it seem now to heat our houses with open fires?"
"Why weren't there any stoves, grandmother? And where were the furnaces?"
"People did not know how to make stoves and furnaces, Peter. They had very large fireplaces, instead. My grandmother told me about them."
"What beautiful white birch logs," said the Story Lady. "They make such a good fire."
"They came from our woods," said Peter. "We were up there one day. We went to see next winter's wood. There is plenty. Some is already cut and piled."