o r u r o r x T R v n o M E 



ontiM-own belonging* cither, for according to the Constant Improver, 

 too many country places serve as dumping grounds. When it 

 came to the point of actual selection, only such things were chosen 

 a> were suitable for the simplicity of our life there. I did plead for 

 one or two old Cashmere curtains from India, which, hung in a 

 dark corner, do not offend, and for the Bokhara embroideries, which, 

 being on linen and coarse, blend beautifully into our color scheme. 

 Good brasses of every kind were acceptable, with brown baskets 

 big and little from Japan. We found a fine old brass warming pan 

 in Holland, which one of the guests took fora corn-popper, and some 

 Chinese lacquer lanterns which were lovely for hanging-lamps. 



The dining-room, finished in Elizabethan plaster-and-timber. 

 is ;i big airy room with windows on four sides. Old pewter and 

 brasses, blue delft and big steins stand in brave procession on the 

 encircling shelf, and a soft red rug and flowered cretonne curtains 

 give the room its needed color. The rush-bottomed chairs and dull 

 brown finish of the oaken table harmonize with the low-beamed 

 ceiling. 



The use of plaster-and-timber for interior decoration was an 

 innovation in this part of the country. 



We overheard one day a workman saying to another: "What 

 style do yon call this house.'" 



I was glad he had n't asked me, I should have been so reluctant 

 to murmur. "Early English domestic ecclesiastical architecture! " 



- for he was a go<xJ workman, and good workmen were scarce. 



42 



