either side, rose a long line of huge
stone arches, ten in number. These imposing structures of solid masonry
were full thirty feet high, spreading to a width of thirty feet at the
base. The two center arches were each twenty feet thick; the others, ten
feet each. The open space between the arches was uniformly ten feet; the
open circle under each arch was twenty feet in diameter. The vista
formed by the spaces and arches together, was over two hundred feet in
length. From the farther arch to the front of the stables lay thirty
feet of smooth, clean gravel which covered, at this point, the full
width of the avenue, seventy-five feet, forming the open court, around
which was built the stables and the two tastefully designed stone
buildings on either side--one, beautifully fitted up for the residence
of the superintendent, the other containing the heating and pumping
apparatus and the electric generator. The two wide center arches
supported the huge metal tank which held the ample water supply of both
cottage and outbuildings. Evidently, they were admirably adapted to that
particular purpose. The rough stone work of the outside of all the
arches was artistically covered and beautified by a luxuriant growth of
intermingled ivy and cinnamon vine, which gave a still deeper shade to
the interior. To the beholder, the exterior effect of the vines on the
long line of arches was as beautifully romantic as if it really were one
of those old Abbeys in picturesque ruin, so charmingly described by Sir
Walter Scott. Deep grooves in the stone work, with light iron frames
fastened near the outer edges of the arches, gave support during the
cold weather to a roof of double glass, which covered all the open
spaces between the arches, converting the whole into one vast
greenhouse, through which passed the system of heating pipes from the
furnace room to the cottage, thus providing a roomy winter home for an
army of tropical plants and shrubs and at the same time protecting the
water supply from the ill effects of all frost. A screen of interlacing
vines, in place of the glass roof, now served to make the shade of the
archway almost complete.

Having sufficiently examined the exterior and becoming to some extent
familiar with the general plan and purpose of these unique arches,
Fillmore Flagg and Fern Fenwick returned to the covered entrance from
the kitchen porch. Here, as they were standing a few feet above the
ground, they had an unobs