A BARN 



A BROAD red roof of tile is a conspicuous object on 

 the same road which winds and turns in true crooked 

 country fashion, with hedgerows, trees, and fields orr 

 both sides, and scarcely a dwelling visible. It is not, 

 indeed, so crooked as a lane in Gloucestershire, which I 

 verily believe passes the same tree thrice, but the curves 

 are frequent enough to vary the view pleasantly. 



Approaching from either direction, on turning a 

 certain corner a great red roof rises high above the 

 hedges, and the line of its ridge is seen every way 

 through the trees. With this old barn, as with so much 

 of the architecture of former times, the roof is the most 

 important part. The gables, for instance, of Eliza- 

 bethan houses occupy the eye far more than the walls ; 

 and so, too, with the antique halls that still exist. The 

 roof of this old barn is itself the building ; the roof and 

 the doors, for the sweeping slope of the tiles comes 

 down within reach of the hand, while the great doors 

 extend half-way to the ridge. 



By the low black wooden walls a little chaff has been 

 spilt, and has blown out and mingles with the dust of the 

 road. Loose straws lie across the footpath, trodden flat 

 by passing feet ; straws have wandered across the road 

 and lodged on the mound, and others have roamed still 

 farther round the corner. Between the gatepost and 

 the wall that encloses the rickyard more straws are 



