nd therefore
in the shape of an H, with two gables marking the end of the
downstrokes, and a short length of grey roof standing for the
cross-bar. It faces to the south, so that the little court between the
gables is a veritable sun-trap, wherein grow magnolia and jessamine;
while roses, Dutch honeysuckle, clematis and wistaria cover the whole
front of the house and almost hide the mullioned windows. But the Hall
is even more attractive within than without, for from the moment when
you enter the door you find yourself among oak panels, oak carving and
old tapestry on every side and in every room. The house has but two
storeys, so that the rooms are not very large not very high, with the
exception of the hall, which fills both storeys of the cross-bar of the
H, from the floor to the roof. The ceiling is of open work,
beautifully carved; the walls are panelled high, and at the head of
each panel is painted a coat of arms showing the marriages of many
generations of Braceforts. Above the panels at one end of the hall are
huge coats of arms carved in stone and gorgeously coloured; and at the
other end is a gallery of carved oak with the gilded pipes of an organ
shining above it. A great part of the outer wall is taken up by a very
large mullioned window with quaint round panes, many of them filled
with old stained glass; and on the wall opposite to it is a great
fireplace of carved stone, the centre of it showing the crest of a
mailed arm and the motto, Dieu et bras fort.

Above this fireplace hang some curious things--stags' horns, and
weapons of bygone times, and among them a buff coat, an iron helmet, a
cuirass, and two long straight swords, which evidently belonged to one
of the gentlemen with flowing love-locks and broad collars turned down
over their mail, whose portraits are hung on each side. But below
these is a more modern helmet, such a helmet as was worn by Light
Dragoons about a century ago, of lacquered leather with a huge comb of
fur, a scarlet turban wound about it, and a short plume of red and
white. Also there is a curved sword with a crimson sash draped round
it; and below these again, neatly spread in a glass case, is a quaint
little child's coat of yellow, with red collar, cuffs and lapels, two
tiny red wings at the shoulders and two tiny red tails behind; which
garment an inscription, now much faded, declares to be a drummer's coat
of the time of the Peninsular War.

Now it is easy to guess t