cquaintances are half so entertaining. Her
comparisons were most striking and amusing, and her comments upon the
books she read--for she was a great reader--were very shrewd and clever,
and always to the point. She was never out of temper, even when the
barrels of oil were being rolled across her kitchen floor. And she was
such a wise woman! This stage-ride, which we expected to find tiresome,
we enjoyed very much, and we were glad to think, when the coach stopped,
and "he" came to meet her with great satisfaction, that we had one
friend in Deephaven at all events.

I liked the house from my very first sight of it. It stood behind a row
of poplars which were as green and flourishing as the poplars which
stand in stately processions in the fields around Quebec. It was an
imposing great white house, and the lilacs were tall, and there were
crowds of rose-bushes not yet out of bloom; and there were box borders,
and there were great elms at the side of the house and down the road.
The hall door stood wide open, and my hostess turned to me as we went
in, with one of her sweet, sudden smiles. "Won't we have a good time,
Nelly?" said she. And I thought we should.

So our summer's housekeeping began in most pleasant fashion. It was just
at sunset, and Ann's and Maggie's presence made the house seem familiar
at once. Maggie had been unpacking for us, and there was a delicious
supper ready for the hungry girls. Later in the evening we went down to
the shore, which was not very far away; the fresh sea-air was welcome
after the dusty day, and it seemed so quiet and pleasant in Deephaven.

_The Brandon House and the Lighthouse_

I do not know that the Brandon house is really very remarkable, but I
never have been in one that interested me in the same way. Kate used to
recount to select audiences at school some of her experiences with her
Aunt Katharine, and it was popularly believed that she once carried down
some indestructible picture-books when they were first in fashion, and
the old lady basted them for her to hem round the edges at the rate of
two a day. It may have been fabulous. It was impossible to imagine any
children in the old place; everything was for grown people; even the
stair-railing was too high to slide down on. The chairs looked as if
they had been put, at the furnishing of the house, in their places, and
there they meant to remain. The carpets were particularly interesting,
and I remember Kate's pointi