NATURE IN DECORATION AND PLEASURABLE RESOURCE. 157 



"TRANSPORTED TO THE LAND OF THE GONDOLIER." 

 "The ornamental prows have floated away." 



one good to pull down a panel or two 

 and to make easier the approach from one 

 mental field into another. It is often 

 beneficial to turn different cerebral 

 fields into one. 



Yes, the formal garden was beautiful 

 but always in improved naturalness. 

 Xot a part of it seemed a pergola ex- 

 tension. Even the inviting seat under 

 the chestnut tree was rustic. Near bv 

 the white pond lillies bloomed in a pond 

 of fresh water with a central over bub- 

 bling and spraying fountain and their 

 pads floated to and fro as naturally as 

 over the ooze of a muddy pond in the 

 swamp. 



In the front of the house, at the salt 

 water lake, one was transported to the 

 land of the gondolier, but it seemed as 

 if in a dream. The ornamental prows 

 have floated away leaving modern 

 canoes and batteaus rich in their pol 



ished natural wood. The prows ! Oh, 

 yes, these had grown more slender and 

 had become vivified in the form of mov- 

 ing swans, and with truly poetic grace 

 they floated in every direction above the 

 limpid depths. They had attendants, 

 too — as they have in dreamland — big 

 ducks and little ducks and geese in var- 

 ious shapes and sizes. The broad stretch 

 of marsh which for ages had been aban- 

 doned to mosquitoes had become an 

 excellent example of nature under real 

 and commendable improvement. This 

 now bore many kinds of aquatic fowl. 

 Some of those were of species not 

 usually regarded as marine, but these 

 too took to the salt water as if that had 

 for generations been their especial pref- 

 erence. 



In the distance was an island, readily 

 reached by a boat ready for instant use. 

 To descend the stone steps to the 



"FORM OF MOVING SWANS WITH TRULY POETIC GRACE." 



