OUT-OF-TOWN PLACES 



but if so far away that its roar is mellowed by 

 distance, the arrowy flight of its trains gives 

 a pleasant bit of movement to the landscape. 

 Best of all, for picturesque effect, is the feath- 

 ery trail of white vapor which the rattling 

 monster breathes out and which lies floating 

 after him like a line of mist over the whole 

 breadth of the valley-crossing. Such objects 

 as I have indicated forbid that feeling of soli- 

 tude which steals upon one immured in a 

 scene of absolute retirement. Trees are never 

 less than trees indeed, and mountains are al- 

 ways writ over with grand lines ; but after all, 

 it is a weary silence that only birds break or 

 the monotone of frogs or the locusts. An 

 echo from without, whether from a bell-tower 

 or the sweep of a railway train, is a sort of 

 brazen world's voice booming in, that by con- 

 trast makes the bird's notes sweeter, and the 

 leafy rustle of the trees more beguiling. 



Of the material of which a country house 

 should be constructed I shall say some things 

 which are not in agreement with prevailing 

 opinions. The use of wood is almost uni- 

 versal; and for producing a certain largeness 

 of effect under limitations of cost, it is by odds 

 the most economical. The necessary condi- 

 tions too of warmth and dryness may be easily 



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