OLD RECOLLECTIONS 279 



had to be propped up with light forked stakes. 

 When the sun-burnt toilers of the fields came 

 to fill their kettles with the cool well-water, 

 they did not go back empty-handed. I have 

 seen the master and his wife fill the children's 

 pinafores with fruit, and load the mothers' arms 

 with onions and lettuce. Things went smoother 

 in those days, methinks in some of the smaller 

 matters, any way. 



No paint had ever been applied to any part 

 of that old house, neither inside nor outside. 

 When it was first built, the whole of the wood- 

 work received five or six coats of pure linseed- 

 oil, until the wood well-seasoned oak it was 

 could absorb no more. Perhaps some of 

 my readers understand the great preservative 

 power of such treatment ; it lasts for centuries. 

 The interior was whitewashed ceilings, beams, 

 and walls, a pure white ; no broken tones of 

 distemper, that cult term for honest wash. The 

 white was relieved by the rich tawny brown 

 of the doors and the furniture. Clock-case, 

 dresser with its wealth of pewter and quaint 

 crockery, together with the tables, kneading- 

 trough, and the solid chairs, were all of the 

 same rich hue. 



About the large, airy bedrooms there was 



