midday
They were mostly English classics , whose names I knew but which I had never read , and they were all in a little flat-backed series at a shilling apiece . I arranged them on top of a chest of drawers , but I kept the _ Pilgrim 's Progress _ beside my bed , for that was one of my working tools and I had got to get it by heart . Mrs Jimson , who came in while I was unpacking to see if the room was to my liking , approved my taste . At our midday dinner she wanted to discuss books with me , and was so full of her own knowledge that I was able to conceal my ignorance . ` We are all labouring to express our personalities , ' she informed me . ` Have you found your medium , Mr Brand ? is it to be the pen or the pencil ?