O u R COUNTRY HOME 



suckles and blackberry vines, and all about were planted dogwoods 

 and wild gooseberries under the small maples and oaks already 

 standing. The floor, six feet below the level of the ground, was made 

 of cement, the sides of brick. Here was installed at once perhaps 

 the most important member of our family, the eight-horsepower 

 gasoline engine, which for ease in running, durability, and reliability 

 cannot be praised too highly. The exhaust was carried thirty feet 

 beyond the house so that all odors are rendered inoffensive. 



Hidden in the woods, high up on the hill, one hundred and 

 fourteen feet above the level of the lake and seventeen hundred feet 

 away, a great oval basin fourteen feet deep, and holding thirty-three 

 thousand gallons, was excavated. Lined with brick and plastered 

 with cement, surrounded with a boulder wall four feet high, the 

 reservoir was really a beautiful spot. The trees were reflected in 

 its clear surface, the flying clouds looked up from its depths, shad- 

 ows danced on its cool gray sides; but we soon found it best to give 

 up our hill-top lakelet, and we had to cover it. It was charming 

 to see the autumn leaves dancing on its surface; but what about the 

 action on water of decayed vegetable matter? An adventurous 

 young chipmunk has been known to investigate too closely the slip- 

 pery cement sides, with disastrous consequences, not merely to him- 

 self; we therefore boarded over the top and piled plenty of hay 

 on that as a temporary expedient. I can well see that the next 

 important improvement on the place will be a fine solid cement 



basin roofed in clean and tight. 



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