256 SIGNS AND SEASONS 



of. Truly, the besmeared, beplastered appearance of 

 most stone houses is by no means a part of their 

 beauty. Mortar plays a subordinate part in a struc- 

 ture, and the less we see of it the better. 



The proper way to treat the subject is this: as 

 the work progresses, let the wall be got ready for 

 pointing up, but never let the pointing be done, 

 though your masons will be sorely grieved. Let 

 the joints be made close, then scraped out, cut with 

 the trowel, and, while the mortar is yet green, 

 sprinkled with sand. Instead, then, of a white 

 band defining every stone, you have only sharp lines 

 and seams here and there, which give the wall a 

 rocky, natural appearance. 



The point of union between the stones, according 

 to my eye, should be a depression, a shadow, and 

 not a raised joint. So that you have closeness and 

 compactness, the face of your wall cannot be too 

 broken or rough. When the rising or setting sun 

 shines athwart it, and brings out the shadows, how 

 powerful and picturesque it looks ! It is not in cut 

 or hewn stone to express such majesty. I like the 

 sills and lintels of undressed stone also, — "wild 

 stone," as the old backwoodsman called them, un- 

 tamed by the hammer or chisel. If the lintels are 

 wide enough, a sort of hood may be formed over 

 the openings by projecting them a few inches. 



It seems to me that I built into my house every 

 one of those superb autumn days which I spent in 

 the woods getting out stone. I did not quarry the 

 limestone ledge into blocks any more than I quar- 



