Its owner, the warden, fearing the unhealthy air of the sea-coast, had bought some hundreds of acres up here in the hills, cleared them, and built, or rather was building, in the midst.

As yet the house was rudimentary.

A cottage of precious woods cut off the clearing, standing, of course, on stilts, contained two rooms, an inner and an outer.

There was no glass in the windows, which occupied half the walls.

Door or shutters, to be closed if the wind and rain were too violent, are all that is needed in a climate where the temperature changes but little, day or night, throughout the year.