from a hallway by an ascent of two or three steps, while
access to others was obtained by going down some steps. The inside was
subordinated in a great degree to the outside: if there happened to be a
pretty window like something Mr. Petter had seen in an engraving, a room
of suitable shape and size was constructed behind the window. Stairways
were placed where they were needed, but they were not allowed to
interfere with the shapes of rooms or hallways; if there happened to be
no other good place for them they were put on the outside of the house.
Some of these stairways were wide, some narrow, and some winding; and as
those on the outside were generally covered they increased the
opportunities for queer windows and perplexing projections. The upper
room of the tower was reached by a staircase from the outside, which
opened into a little garden fenced off from the rest of the grounds, so
that a person might occupy this room without having any communication
with the other people in the house.

In one of the back wings of the building there was a room which was more
peculiar than any other, from the fact that there was no entrance to it
whatever, unless one climbed into it by means of a ladder placed at one
of its windows. This room, which was of fair size and well lighted, was
in the second story, but it appeared to be of greater height on account
of the descent of the ground at the back of the inn. It had been
constructed because the shape of that part of the building called for a
room, and a stairway to it had been omitted for the reason that if one
had been built in the inside of the house it would have spoiled the
shape of the room below, and there seemed no good way of putting one on
the outside. So when the room was finished and floored the workmen came
out of it through one of the windows, and Stephen Petter reserved his
decision in regard to a door and stairway until the apartment should be
needed. The grounds around the Squirrel Inn were interesting and
attractive, and with them Stephen Petter had interfered very little. The
rich man had planned beautiful surroundings for his country-home, and
during many years nature had labored steadily to carry out his plans.
There were grassy stretches and slopes, great trees, and terraces
covered with tangled masses of vines and flowers. The house stood on a
bluff, and on one side could be seen a wide view of a lovely valley,
with the two steeples of Lethbury showing above