11 
my fancy had invented relative to my new sur- 
roundings. The dwelling proved to be far 
neater in external appearance than my distant 
views of it led me to believe possible, while its 
environments gave evidence of cleanly atten- 
tion. Following Petro through the front door- 
way, I observed that the hall continued through 
the house and allowed exit through another 
door-way in the rear. The ground floor con- 
tained but two rooms, one on each side of the 
hall, while a narrow, but substantial stairway 
led to the upper floor. The room on the right 
of the hall, as we entered the front door-way, 
was evidently the kitchen, as I noticed, through 
its door-way, a polished cooking stove, with a 
most inviting fire peering through the grate, 
and quite an assortment of shining cooking 
utensils hanging on the ample chimney. Petro 
ushered me into the room opposite to the 
kitchen; this was certainly the dining-room 
and sitting-room combined. It was neatly fur- 
nished with a round center-table, several cane- 
seated chairs and a substantial, hard-wood 
sideboard. The walls were decorated with 
unique old prints of foreign scenery, and a few 
tastily framed paintings of a sporting char- 
acter; trout fishing, snipe shooting, ete. A 
grate wood-fire in a roomy old-fashioned chim- 
ney place warmed this room. A box of smok- 
ing tobacco, several pipes, Indian relics, and 
shells embellished the wide mantel. Sports- 
man’s equipments—rifles, shot-guns, and fish- 
