THE COUNTRY HOUSE 



CHAPTER I 



SELECTION OF THE SITE 



NCE the world was very young, and our prehistoric ancestry (if 

 the Darwinian theory be accepted) roosted in trees, or swung 

 therefrom by appendages long since eliminated and hence not 

 found in the accepted Parisian fashion plates. Then there 

 were neither doors nor windows, and the needs of the bath were 

 not imperative. Gentle breezes blew as aimlessly as now; heavy 

 foliage offered shelter from the sun; hair grew downward to keep 

 out the weather, and the lee side of a tree trunk was better than a house. 

 Later came the cave man he who invented the cellar. He had 

 no tail, but just what he may have been is not definitely decided. Recent 

 research seems to suggest that he must have been a good climber, despite 

 the lack of caudal appendage, although he probably struck for his hole 

 when he could, and built him a fire as protection against outside invasion. 

 Little as we may know, it is evident, however, that he carefully chose 

 the site of his cave in reference to the demands of his simple life, and if his 

 ready-made home did not fulfil these he rejected it altogether. Thus 

 we find him on elevations, near streams, and within reach of flint and 

 the metals which he has so cleverly wrought. 



