PHONNY’S LETTER. 15

 

 

 

Description of Mr. Keep’s house. The summer-houses. The hail.

 

The house where Caroline lived was in the village. It
was a large and handsome house, with a beautiful yard
in front, containing trees and shrubbery, with gravel
walks, bordered with beds of flowers, winding among
them. On one side of the house there was a wing, which
contained Mr. Keep’s office; for Mr. Keep, Caroline’s
father, was a lawyer. There was a door of entrance to
this office in front, with a path leading to it from the
road, where there’was a small gate, by which Mr. Keep’s
clients were accustomed to come in. There was also a
passage leading to the office from the house.

The wing was on the north side of the house, and on
the south side there was a great gate, and a road-way
which led in to the barns and sheds behind. There was
also a large garden, with flowers and fruits growing in it
in great profusion, and two summer-houses covered with
vines. ‘These vines were, however, only for shade, as the
climate. was altogether too cold in Franconia for grapes to
ripen.

When Phonny and Malleville arrived at Mr. Keep’s,
Caroline amused them, for some time, in conducting
them about the yards and gardens, and then brought
them into the house. She took them first into what she
called the hall, which was a long room in the back part
of the house, very comfortably and. pleasantly furnished,
and used in the winter evenings as a family sitting-room.
It was in this hall that the children were accustomed to
play at blind man’s buff, and other similar games, at
Caroline’s parties. After looking about this hall for some
time, and seeing the books and playthings which were
stored im various desks and secretaries about the room,
the children went on, under Caroline’s guidance, to the