20 THE FAT OF THE LAND 
placed. They were not worth the expense of 
moving, so I decided to let them stand as they 
were until we could build better ones, and then 
tear them down. 
We drove in through a clump of trees behind 
the farm-house, and pushed on about three hun- 
dred yards to the crest of the knoll. Here we 
got out of the carriage and looked about, with 
keen interest, in every direction. The views 
were wide toward three points of the compass. 
North and northwest we could see pleasant lands 
for at least two miles; directly west, our eyes 
could not reach beyond our own forest; to the 
south and southwest, fruitful valleys stretched 
away to a range of wooded hills four miles dis- 
tant; but on the east our view was limited by 
the fringe of woods which lay between us and 
the north-and-south road. 
«This is the exact spot for the house,” said 
Polly. «It must face to the south, with a broad 
piazza, and the chief entrance must be on the 
east. The kitchens and fussy things will be out 
of sight on the northwest corner; two stories, a 
high attic with rooms, and covered all over with 
yellow-brown shingles.” She had it all settled 
in a minute. 
«What will the paper on your bedroom wall 
be like?” I asked. 
«TIT know perfectly well, but I shan’t tell 
you.” 
Seating myself on an out-cropping boulder, I 
