ness to unravel.

And now a word or two as to this Orley Farm. In the first place let
it be understood that the estate consisted of two farms. One, called
the Old Farm, was let to an old farmer named Greenwood, and had been
let to him and to his father for many years antecedent to the days
of the Masons. Mr. Greenwood held about three hundred acres of land,
paying with admirable punctuality over four hundred a year in rent,
and was regarded by all the Orley people as an institution on the
property. Then there was the farm-house and the land attached to it.
This was the residence in which Sir Joseph had lived, keeping in
his own hands this portion of the property. When first inhabited by
him the house was not fitted for more than the requirements of an
ordinary farmer, but he had gradually added to it and ornamented
it till it was commodious, irregular, picturesque, and straggling.
When he died, and during the occupation of his widow, it consisted
of three buildings of various heights, attached to each other,
and standing in a row. The lower contained a large kitchen, which
had been the living-room of the farm-house, and was surrounded
by bake-house, laundry, dairy, and servants' room, all of fair
dimensions. It was two stories high, but the rooms were low, and the
roof steep and covered with tiles. The next portion had been added by
Sir Joseph, then Mr. Mason, when he first thought of living at the
place. This also was tiled, and the rooms were nearly as low; but
there were three stories, and the building therefore was considerably
higher. For five-and-twenty years the farm-house, so arranged, had
sufficed for the common wants of Sir Joseph and his family; but when
he determined to give up his establishment in the City, he added on
another step to the house at Orley Farm. On this occasion he built
a good dining-room, with a drawing-room over it, and bed-room over
that; and this portion of the edifice was slated.

The whole stood in one line fronting on to a large lawn which fell
steeply away from the house into an orchard at the bottom. This
lawn was cut in terraces, and here and there upon it there stood
apple-trees of ancient growth; for here had been the garden of the
old farm-house. They were large, straggling trees, such as do not
delight the eyes of modern gardeners; but they produced fruit by the
bushel, very sweet to the palate, though probably not so perfectly
round, and large, and handsome as those which the