and outbuildings. And that is all I have been able to learn about the
exterior aspect of the place.




II.--INSIDE THE HOUSE.

A small porch-door, about half way down the western side, furnished the
ordinary mode of entrance to and exit from the house. This door opened
into an apartment which served the double purpose of sitting-room and
dining-room, and which was connected by an inner door with the kitchen
and back premises. There was, however, a rather wide-mouthed front
entrance, approached by a short flight of wooden steps, and opening
into a fair-sized hall. To the right of the hall, as you entered, a
door opened into what served as a drawing-room, which was seldom used,
as the occupants of the house were not given to receiving much
fashionable company. To the left of the hall, another door opened into
the dining-room already mentioned. A stairway facing the front
entrance, conducted you to the upper story, which consisted of several
bed-rooms and a large apartment in front. This latter must have been by
long odds the pleasantest room in the house. It was of comfortable
dimensions, well lighted, and cheerful as to its outlook. Two front
windows commanded a prospect of the bay and the peninsula, while a
third window on the eastern side overlooked the valley of the Don,
which was by no means the stagnant pool which it was destined to become
in later years. The only entrance to this chamber was a door placed
directly to the right hand at the head of the stairway, which stairway,
it may be mentioned, consisted of exactly seventeen steps. A small
bedroom in the rear was accessible only by a separate door at the back