A Day at Northcote , New Hampshire 
WALK AT THE END OF THE GARDEN 
THE HOUSE FROM THE HILLSIDE 
through the hall, the countryside spreading 
below in the blue distance. A few more 
steps and a glance toward the other side of 
the garden leads upward over the greensward 
of the rising hillside spotted with firs and 
young fruit-trees over which bird-houses 
are poised at the 
top of gaunt poles. 
The paths which 
lead through the 
garden are walled 
with green, and the 
high banks of the 
larger shrubs ex¬ 
tend far above one’s 
head. New delights 
come unexpectedly 
upon one at every 
turn, lying in wait, 
as it were, for those 
whose real love 
for thriving plant- 
life directs prying 
glances into shad¬ 
owy depths o r, 
tiptoe, peers over 
a sunny mass of 
phlox or larkspur. 
As one bows 
under an arch of 
spirea or threads shady alleys, new vistas 
continually unfold. These are of short 
length within near-by green, but always they 
open into that hazy distance which is a uni¬ 
versal background and a constant contrast to 
the bright strong colors near at hand. Quiet 
nooks invite a rest in the shade of a thicket, 
and the broad cap of a wood parapet, en¬ 
closing the western end of the level space 
beyond the garden proper, is a brink where 
one may sit and view the silent panorama 
below. There an undulating valley stretches 
out to the north 
and west, and 
roads, dotted with 
farmhouses, trail 
across its rich farm¬ 
land and disappear 
in clefts between 
far-off hills. 
Nearer at hand, in 
the midst of one of 
the garden views 
the owner of 
Northcote is dis¬ 
covered in working 
garb building a bit 
of wall, trimming a 
hedge or shifting 
pots of plants. A 
cordial greeting, 
and host and guest 
repair at once to 
that favorite spot 
known as “the 
pine-tree.” This 
is at the end of one of the walks of the 
garden which passes from view of the house 
and curves around the face of the hill, keep¬ 
ing at all points its own level. Under the 
stifflv spreading branches of the pine-tree, all 
important matters of the elevated household 
VIEW FROM THE LILY-POOL 
Photographed in the Late Summer, iqoi 
246 
