n, as soon as the diligent master of the
place, has straightened his aching back and turned it upon the scene of
his labours.

The dewy lawn before Fair Acres, with its beautiful mosaic of white and
gold, fringed with circles of deepest crimson here and there, would not
suit the taste of the conventional gardener of these days; nor would the
low, irregular building which overlooked it, be considered an attractive
or fitting residence, for the sons and daughters of the small country
squire in the ninth decade of the century.

But in the second decade, in which my story opens, things were
different. The country squire lived a country life. He farmed his own
acres, he walked over his own fields; his 'stock' were individual cows
and horses to him; he could pat each one and call it by its name. His
house was his home, and the restlessness of travel, and longing for
excitement had not as yet, for the most part, disturbed either him or
his children.

Now the resonant steam eagle, as it flies across the country side, seems
to call upon the dwellers in rural districts to follow where it leads,
and an isolated manorial farm like Fair Acres, and a family like the
Falconers who inhabited it, are all but impossible to find nowadays.

Nor would we grumble that the stream of Progress bears us all upon its
breast with the strong resistless current, of which we are scarcely
conscious. The busy rush of life has its brighter side, for there are
wider fields of service opened out for our sons, and the selfishness
which was apt to spring from a secluded life in the heart of the hills,
is counteracted by contact with many men, and many minds. Human sympathy
is quickened, and love is drawn forth, and the labourers who long for
work in the harvest field have the way made easy for them; tools are put
into the hands of our daughters with which they may, if they will, carve
their own lot in life, and none can complain now that life is wasted for
lack of opportunity, for opportunities start up on every side in this
active, zealous, go-a-head age in which we find ourselves.

But in spite of all such advantages and due acknowledgment of their
value, it is refreshing to turn to quiet and peaceful habitations like
Fair Acres, and live again a quieter and less complex life than that
which we have grown to believe is necessary in these later times.

As the sun threw its level beams from the east across the lawn,
thousands of diamond drops sparkled