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Show lOG TIOEDUCIC. CIIAPTER X. TnE Yi itor, in approaching tho old In:tnsion of 1,Villowbank from the highway, caught a gli1np.·o of tho '''hito buildin()" throuo-h numoron tree~, tlecked 'v!th 0 b tho opening loaves of Rpring. Near tho honRc a few scattered survivors of the original forest, .·u ·h as tho groat elm 'vith triple trunk, the far-branching oak and round-topped 'va1nnt, stood mnong lnrgo old trees 'vhich, in tho rings about their hearLR, kept a calendar of the ago of the f~tmily which plantec11.h 'In. At the foot of a sloping bank before tho n1nnRion grow n. groat 'voeping 'vi1low, wi.th its long slen(lcr t\vigs and dark green leaves dro~ping in .·tate1y s~ulnc :. The house 'vas a long bnilding of two stories, frmned of 'vood, w·oather-boarclecl and painLecl " 'bite. There was a wide porch nloug tlte entire front. Tho old-fashioned chimneys 'vorc built outside, ana at each end of the hou e. The room 'vere Jaro-e and the win- b do,vs snut1l. In a 'viJe hall at the mitldle of the build-ing was a flight of stairs starting at one side of tho hall, and near the top, making a rectangular tnrn upon a broad landing, 'vith rna sive, square post~, heavily capped. Over the spacious fire-places "\Vere high, 'vooden mantel-pieces, adorned with an infinity of n1onldings and 'viLh rosettes and other figures ,vhich co1nn1en1orated the taste of that] itzhuo·h who erec.tecl b the mansion in the last century. It ,vas then regarded as a grau<.l establishment, for it 'yas finer than n1ost ROEBUCK. 107 o.fits nei~·l~horR, n.nd 'vns tlte He:tt of one of the princtpal i.hnuhes of the county. Time g nawrd silently upon the \\'OOd work, bnt in 1 hnt onunnnity time wrought. few changes of i<len. or ,·o ~ialre1ation.· jn the laps~ of . n1y two or. t_hree o-cnern.tionH. The fmnily rctame<l 1LH rcRpeetab1l1 ty, nncl the houHe 'vas still regard eel by all the conuty ronnel as a grancl establi:..;hIncnt, notwith."tanding that, since a railroad ,vas 111ac1e through the eounty, . '01110 an tiq ne notion. hac1 been put to flight, anc1 .·o1ne 1nore co tly and elerrant d. welling:; hal been erecte<l in the neighborhoo l~ The idea of grandeur attached to the place clcscenc1cd a an hcir-loorn in the :f~tn1ily, exchtcling envy of modern rivals and preventing project of jillJH·oven1cnt. The l)erfcction even of the tree" plnnte<l by a ionnor o-ene- . b rat1on, took it. place an1ong the do1nestic tr:ulitions, :tnd though ne\V ones might have j rnprove<l the prospect, they could not flatter tho pricl of nnce try. The old furniture "'aS retainetl, lllHler the influence of similar sentiment. . '!"'he tn11, Rqunre, eight-day clock in the hall, " 'ith iron '"eight. , brass, 'vheels and lunar f~ce, could not give place to a nlod rn ti1ne-piece, for it ha<..l1nea~ured the ages of 1n:wy Inc1nber · of the fan1ily, second by second, frOJn birth until death. 'The quaint o1~ bed~teacls hn.d been 'vitncs. ·cs of the birth , Lnduls and deaths of several generations of Fitzhlkghs. In the old pre ses 'vere pile. of ho1ne-made coverlets and gay silk dre scs that 'vould stand on end, \vith other relics of tho thrift or fa hi on of n pri1niti ve m·is- 1ocracy. A gourd hun<r over a cedar-bucket of drink- . b 1ng water on a ~hclf at the back-door, but there 'vas t-iilver in the side-board. Tho 1nany old things about the old hou e could not be exchanged for shining I~ovelties 'vithout rending the very roots of the family tree. |