England -- Fiction; Husband and wife -- Fiction; Indiana -- Fiction; Marriage -- Fiction; Mate selection -- Fiction
There was a huge deer-head over the entrance, a trophy of Stillwater’s
first year in the Adirondacks. The large hall was decorated with many
other trophies from the Rocky Mountains and elsewhere. Wild skins of
every description strewed the polished floors throughout the camp. Logs
crackled brightly in the great, deep fire-place of the hall, as they
entered, emitting an odor of pine. The large, brown eyes of an elk
gazed beneath the branching antlers mildly down on the fire. A short,
wide flight of stairs was broken by a balcony over the hall. From the
railing hung an antique, Persian silk rug, upon which the fire played
richly. Beneath the stair-case and each side of the fire-place were
deep niches, comfortably furnished with pillows, of which red was the
prevailing tone. Graceful jars of old pottery decorated the shelves
above, with here and there a brilliant cluster of peacock’s feathers, or
the rich plumage of a stuffed bird, to relieve the dullness of the clay.
This decoration was repeated in all the lower rooms, of which there were
many, one opening into the other, giving a vista of fire-lit interiors,
the flames catching an occasional flash of color from a red pillow or an
Oriental scarf hanging carelessly from a shelf. The camp resounded to
the crackling of logs with the accompanying, healthy perfume of the
burning pine. Indiana ran through all the rooms, looking out of every
window upon the lake. Those of her own room opened directly into the
balsam tree which ornamented the front of the camp. This room had been
built entirely of white maple. There was simple furniture of the same
wood. The gleaming white walls and ceiling served as a background for a
continuous Bacchanalian dance of shadows, cast by the branches of the
giant balsam screening the windows. Here, also, logs crackled cheerily
in a deep, wide fireplace, tiled with white onyx, which reflected the
flames in fitful opaline gleams. White bear rugs strewed the floor.
Indiana, as she looked around her, had visions of frosty, October
mornings, when she had put her feet unwillingly out of bed into the warm
fur, and hopped over the intervening space of cold floor to the fire.
She remembered awakings, when a breath of balsam air swept like a cool
hand across her forehead. Open windows and fires were Mr. Stillwater’s
strict injunctions at the camp. Indiana, for one, obeyed him. She had
often opened her eyes to see a chipmunk sitting on its haunches,
regarding her curiously. And birds were in the habit of flying around
her little nest and out again to their own nest in the tree. She stood
for a moment by the fire with a sense of glad content to be once more in
this white, balsam-scented room. Then she ran into her mother’s room,
and into that reserved for Glen. On the mantel were portraits of his
mother and father. They had insisted on his leaving some of his
belongings there last year, saying that if he did so, he would be sure
to come again.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account