e or four plots of gay flowers cut in the grass between the
house and the river gave a brightness to its appearance. The house was
now covered as far as the roof with greenery, and might well have been
mistaken for a rustic bungalow standing in pretty grounds on the banks
of the Thames. Behind, a large kitchen-garden was in full bearing. It
was surrounded by wire network to keep out the chickens, ducks, and
geese, which wandered about and picked up a living as they chose,
returning at night to the long low shed erected for them at some
distance from the house, receiving a plentiful meal on their arrival to
prevent them from lapsing into an altogether wild condition.

Forty acres of land had been reploughed and sown, and the crops had
already made considerable progress. In the more distant clearings a
dozen horses, twenty or thirty cows, and a small flock of a hundred
sheep grazed, while some distance up the glade in which the house stood
was the pig-sty, whose occupants were fed with refuse from the garden,
picking up, however, the larger portion of their living by rooting in
the woods.

Long before Mr. and Mrs. Renshaw moved into the house, Wilfrid, whose
labours were now less severe, had paid his first visit to Mr. Atherton's
hut. He was at once astonished and delighted with it. It contained
indeed but the one room, sixteen feet square, but that room had been
made one of the most comfortable dens possible. There was no flooring,
but the ground had been beaten until it was as hard as baked clay, and
was almost covered with rugs and sheep-skins; a sort of divan ran round
three sides of it, and this was also cushioned with skins. The log walls
were covered with cow-hides cured with the hair on, and from hooks and
brackets hung rifles, fishing-rods, and other articles, while horns and
other trophies of the chase were fixed to the walls.

While the Renshaws had contented themselves with stoves, Mr. Atherton
had gone to the expense and trouble of having a great open fireplace,
with a brick chimney outside the wall. Here, even on the hottest day,
two or three logs burnt upon old-fashioned iron dogs. On the wall above
was a sort of trophy of oriental weapons. Two very large and comfortable
easy chairs stood by the side of the hearth, and in the centre of the
room stood an old oak table, richly carved and black with age. A
book-case of similar age and make, with its shelves well filled with
standard works, stood against the