TAKING REINS IN HAND 



There is a deeper philosophy in this than 

 may at first sight appear. Who shall tell us 

 how many a breakdown of a wayward son, is 

 traceable to the cheerless aspect of his own 

 home, and fireside? 



But just now I am no moralist — only house- 

 builder. In the farm cottage, whose principal 

 features I have detailed, I have given fifty 

 feet of frontage to the south, and only the 

 gable end, with its windows, to the street. As 

 I enter the white wicket by the corner, under 

 the elm tree which bowers it, the distribution 

 counts thus: a miniature parlor with its look- 

 out to the street, and a broad window to the 

 south; next is the rustic porch, and a door 

 opening upon the hall; next, a broad living- 

 room or kitchen, with its generous chimney, 

 and this flanked by a wash room, or scullery, 

 from which a second outer door opens upon 

 the southern front. To this latter door, which 

 may have its show of tubs, tins, and drying 

 mops, a screen of shrubbery gives all needed 

 privacy from the street, and separates by a 

 wall of flowering things from the modest pre- 

 tensions of the entrance by the porch. At 

 least, such was an available part of the de- 

 sign. If the good woman's poultry, loving so 

 sunny a spot, will worry away the rootlets of 



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