bably with oak, but the wood had been so larded
with dark blue paint that its texture could not be discovered.
Above this wainscot the walls were covered with a fascinating paper.
The background of this was a greenish-blue, and upon it a party of
red-coated riders in three-cornered hats blew large horns while they
hunted a stag. This pattern, striking enough in itself, became
immeasurably more so when repeated a dozen times; for the stag of one
hunt chased the riders of the next, and the riders chased the hounds,
and so on in an unbroken procession right round the room. The window at
the bottom of the room stood high in the wall, with short blue curtains
and a blue-cushioned seat beneath. In the corner to the right of it
stood a tall clock, and by the clock an old spinet, decorated with two
plated cruets, a toy cottage constructed of shells and gum, and an
ormolu clock under glass--the sort of ornament that an Agricultural
Society presents to the tenant of the best-cultivated farm within thirty
miles of somewhere or other. The floor was un-carpeted save for one
small oasis opposite the fire. Here stood my table, cleanly spread,
with two plated candlesticks, each holding three candles. Along the
wainscot extended a regiment of dark, leather-cushioned chairs, so
straight in the back that they seemed to be standing at attention.
There was but one easy-chair in the room, and this was drawn close to
the fire. I turned towards it.

As I sat down I caught sight of my reflection in the mirror above the
fireplace. It was an unflattering glass, with a wave across the surface
that divided my face into two ill-fitting halves, and a film upon it,
due, I suppose, to the smoke of the wood-fire below. But the setting of
this mirror and the fireplace itself were by far the most noteworthy
objects in the whole room. I set myself idly to examine them.

It was an open hearth, and the blazing faggot lay on the stone itself.
The andirons were of indifferently polished steel, and on either side of
the fireplace two Ionic pilasters of dark oak supported a narrow
mantel-ledge. Above this rested the mirror, flanked by a couple of
naked, flat-cheeked boys, who appeared to be lowering it over the fire
by a complicated system of pulleys, festoons, and flowers.
These flowers and festoons, as well as the frame of the mirror, were of
some light wood--lime, I fancy--and reminded me of Grinling Gibbons'
work; and the glass tilted forward at