feet high, stretching all along the shore. However, a few
steps brought us to a receding level bit of ground, where
there was a break in the bank; the shore fell in a little, and
a wooded dell sloped back from the river. A carriage and
servants were waiting here.

Preston and I had arranged that we would walk up and let the
ladies ride. But as soon as they had taken their places I
heard myself called. We declared our purpose, Preston and I;
but Miss Pinshon said the ground was damp and she preferred I
should ride; and ordered me in. I obeyed, bitterly
disappointed; so much disappointed that I had the utmost
trouble not to let it be seen. For a little while I did not
know what we were passing. Then curiosity recovered itself.
The carriage was slowly making its way up a rough road. On
each side the wooded banks of the dell shut us in; and these
banks seemed to slope upward as well as the road, for though
we mounted and mounted, the sides of the dell grew no lower.
After a little, then, the hollow of the dell began to grow
wider, and its sides softly shelving down; and through the
trees on our left we could see a house, standing high above
us, but on ground which sloped towards the dell, which rose
and widened and spread out to meet it. This sloping ground was
studded with magnificent live oaks; each holding its place in
independent majesty, making no interference with the growth of
the rest. Some of these trees had a girth that half a dozen
men with their arms outstretched in a circle could not span;
they were green in spite of the winter; branching low, and
spreading into stately, beautiful heads of verdure, while grey
wreaths of moss hung drooping from some of them. The house was