natures.

At the end our way to the house was over a green turf, among great trees
as in a park; and as there was no road or path, the first sight of the
building seen near, when we emerged from the trees, came as a surprise.
There were no gardens, lawns, inclosures or hedges near it, nor
cultivation of any kind. It was like a wilderness, and the house
produced the effect of a noble ruin. It was a hilly stone country where
masses of stone cropped out here and there among the woods and on the
green slopes, and it appeared that the house had been raised on the
natural foundation of one of these rocks standing a little above the
river that flowed behind it. The stone was gray, tinged with red, and
the whole rock, covering an acre or so of ground, had been worn or hewn
down to form a vast platform which stood about a dozen feet above the
surrounding green level. The sloping and buttressed sides of the
platform were clothed with ivy, wild shrubs, and various flowering
plants. Broad, shallow steps led up to the house, which was all of the
same material--reddish-gray stone; and the main entrance was beneath a
lofty portico, the sculptured entablature of which was supported by
sixteen huge caryatides, standing on round massive pedestals. The
building was not high as a castle or cathedral; it was a dwelling-place,
and had but one floor, and resembled a ruin to my eyes because of the
extreme antiquity of its appearance, the weather-worn condition and
massiveness of the sculptured surfaces, and the masses of ancient ivy
covering it in places. On the central portion of the building rested a
great dome-shaped roof, resembling ground glass of a pale reddish tint,
producing the effect of a cloud resting on the stony summit of a hill.

I remained standing on the grass about thirty yards from the first steps
after the others had gone in, all but the old gentleman, who still kept