OUR COUNTRY LIFE 



but after one or two sudden downpours and one or 

 two hasty scurryings for shelter, we concluded some- 

 thing must be arranged for stormy nights. 



Some men would have put on a roof and calmly 

 screened in this upstairs porch, but the face of the 

 Constant Improver was a study when one of our prac- 

 tical neighbors made this obvious suggestion. What! 

 spoil the whole effect of his adored house for this 

 passing whim? No, indeed! Give him time, he 

 would think out some solution. And when it was 

 thought out and carried out, it was the most sensible 

 and inconspicuous affair possible. 



A platform thirteen inches high, five feet four inches 

 long, and four feet wide was placed on the southeast 

 corner of the porch, on which was put the long wooden 

 bench, the Master's favorite lookout; for here was an 

 ideal spot to view the sunset, the moonrise over the 

 lake, and — never failing object of interest — each par- 

 ticular bush in our extensive shrubbery. From the 

 house wall slanting to the back of the bench, a frame- 



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