uals which we have seen in rural
menageries, nimbly climbing poles, or sedately drinking soda-water.

[Illustration]

AN OLD COUNTRY-HOUSE.

[Illustration]

Here is a picture of a handsome summer residence. It apparently
belongs to a rich man, and a man of taste. The house is large and
commodious; the grounds are well laid out; there is a garden,
evidently a fine one, close at hand; there is shade, water, fruit,
flowers, and apparently everything that a country-house ought to have.

But yet there is a certain something strange and unusual about it.

There are handsome porticos, but they are differently arranged from
those to which we have been accustomed. Such as those in front we have
often seen; but the upper one, which appears to go nearly around the
house, with short pillars on the sides, is different from anything
that we see in our country neighborhoods. Those long pillars at the
rear of the house seem very peculiar. We have never noticed anything
like them in such positions. There seems to be scarcely any portico at
the back, and those slim pillars are certainly useless, and, to our
eyes, not very ornamental. The windows, too, are remarkable. They are
not only very small, but they are wider at the bottom than the top--a
strange idea of the architect to make them in that way. The upper
story of the house does not appear to have any windows at all, but we
suppose that they must be in the back and front, or the artist may
have accidentally left them out. Even if that floor was used for
lumber-rooms, there ought to be windows.

The garden has a very high wall for a private estate. It is evident
that there must be great fear of thieves in that neighborhood.

But it is no wonder that some things about this house and its grounds
strike us as peculiar, for it was built more than three thousand years
ago.

It was the country residence of an Egyptian gentleman, and was, no
doubt, replete with all the modern conveniences of the period. Even in
the present day he might consider himself a very fortunate man who had
so good a house and grounds as these. If the windows were made a
little larger, a few changes effected in the interior of the
establishment, and some chimneys and fire-places built, none of our
rich men need be ashamed of such a house.

But, handsome as it is, it is not probable that this house cost the
Egyptian gentleman very much.

It is very likely, indeed, that it was built, under the supe