Horace drops the idea of collecting pictures as they would occupy too much space. He discerned that collection of books was better for a small house like his'.

Horace believed so because he had worked with locks and safes throughout his life. In addition to that,the burglar alarm was poorly built. 

Horace was contempalting that people, who own valuable things tend to be foolish. The peolpe who lived in the house had let a magazine describe this house through an article that displayed a plan of all the rooms. Surprisingly, the writer had even mentioned that the painting hid a safe.  

The flowers hindered him in his work. On account of summers, the hay fever bothered him. He buried his face in his handkerchief to avoid the tickling sensation in the nose that led him to sneeze.