THE OLD HOMESTEAD. 



"There is an appearance of comfort and freedom about this old house 

 that renders it a pleasing object to almost every eye. . . . The charm of 

 these old houses, which are marked by neatness and plainness, and by an 

 absence of all pretension, is founded on the natural yearning of every 

 human soul after freedom and simplicity. 



— Wilson Flagg. 



" But I warrant you 'd find the old as snug as the new did you lift the latch. 

 For the human heart keeps no whit more warm under slate than beneath 

 the thatch." 



—Alfred Austin. 



HERE are few more picturesque spots 

 than the gently rolling country of south- 

 western Ohio. The old homestead of 

 which I write nestles quietly among its 

 hills. It is not far distant from the his- 

 toric Fort Colerain, or Dunlap's Station, 

 as it was sometimes called, on the bluffs 

 of the Great Miami, where, in the winter 

 of 1790-91, an attack was made on the 

 THE PORCH BY THE WELL. garnsott by Indians, led by the renegade 

 Simon Girty, and a detachment of soldiers had to be 

 sent out from Fort Washington, on the Ohio, to their 

 aid. The old earthworks of the fort can yet be dis- 

 tinguished in outline from the highway along the river. 

 The upward slopes across the stream can be seen very 

 plainly from our vantage point; and it is one of the 

 diversions on clear days to observe that part of the 

 country through a field glass, and pick out the various 

 farms, and speculate upon the buildings and fields that 

 are too obscure to determine definitely. 

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