HOMES NEAR TO NATURE. 



285 



of the Long Island Sound is beautiful, 

 balanced and dreamy. The contour of 

 the hills, the sloping ravine, the dis- 

 tant islands and farther on the long 

 arm of a peninsula, are all in such per- 

 fect harmony of extent and combina- 

 tion as to make one exclaim : "This 

 all has been done for artistic effect." 

 And the more one admires the whole 

 or studies the details, the more one 

 feels that the words of such an ex- 

 clamation state a literal truth. The 

 Great Artist has so painted and mod- 

 elled this bit of nature that it needed 

 but little work of man for the most 

 effective "framing." 



^ ^ % % * 



The home is indeed artistic in struc- 

 ture and setting with its lawns, foun- 

 tains and shrubbery. But the author 

 quickly turns one's eye to the threefold 

 beauties of nature — the ravine, the 

 fields and, most important of all, the 

 woods where the thrushes sing — from 

 which the name, "Thrushwood." 



He is especially fond of the oaks 

 and beeches in the woods and loves 



to stroll in its thickets, some of which 

 are as wild as any in the Adirondacks, 

 A clump of trees and shrubs com- 

 pletely roofed with interlacing branches 

 affords an ideal outdoor study. Banks 

 of earth and arches of stone connect 

 two islands with the long terrace oc- 

 cupied by the author's residence. At 

 the foot of the wooded slope in front 

 is a lake for canoeing. 



Mr. and Mrs. Bacheller are fond of 

 outdoor life and spend much time in 

 the enjoyment of this beautiful bit of 

 nature that surrounds them. They 

 spend many an afternoon in the woods 

 which in spring are floored with vio- 

 lets and later with crane's bill rising 

 above the ferns. In June the dog- 

 woods are like a halted snow storm in 

 the midst of green thickets around the 

 author's home. He is a saunterer and 

 loves to watch the play of the squir- 

 rels or the birds in his heronry, one 

 of the largest and most interesting in 

 Connecticut. "Thrushwood" is fortu- 

 nate in being a haunt of the night 

 heron and the scarlet tanager. 



WHERE HE WRITES HIS BOOKS FOR THE DELIGHT OF MILLIONS. 



His own words in "Silas Strong" may well be reverted on himself: 



"Spent the most of his life in the woods," said Gordon. "Came in here for his health long ago from 

 I don't know where; grew strong, and has always stuck to the woods. Had to work, like the rest of us, 

 when I knew him .... I have wept and laughed over his poems." 



"Poems!" Master exclaimed. 



"That's the only word for it." Gordon went on. "The man is a woods lover and a poet," 



