MR. URBAN AND A CO UNTR Y HO USE. 259 



that its roar is mellowed by distance, the arrowy 

 flight of its trains gives a pleasant bit of movmeut to 

 the landscape. Best of all, for picturesque effect, is 

 the feathery trail of white vapor which the rattling 

 monster breathes out and which lies floating after 

 him like a line of mist over the whole breadth of the 

 valley-crossing. Such objects as I have indicated for- 

 bid that feeling of solitude which steals upon one 

 immured in a scene of absolute retirement. Trees 

 are never less than trees indeed, and mountains are 

 always writ over with grand lines ; but after all, it 

 is a weary silence that only birds break or the mono- 

 tone of frogs or the locusts. An echo from without, 

 whether from a bell-tower or the sweep of a railway 

 train, is a sort of brazen world's voice booming in, 

 that by contrast makes the bird's notes sweeter, and 

 the leafy rustle of the trees more beguiling. 



Of the material of which a country house should 

 be constructed I shall say some things which are not 

 in agreement with prevailing opinions. The use of 

 wood is almost universal ; and for producing a certain 

 largeness of effect under limitations of cost, it is by 

 odds the most economical. The necessary conditions 

 too of warmth and dryness may be easily secured by 

 a builder in wood ; and under these circumstances, 

 where fitness and economy seem combined, it is 

 hardly reasonable to hope for the substitution of any 



