freshing the entire valley with its coolness. The natural, high banks of the stream were further fortified by dikes constructed of fragments of rock washed down by the stream from the mountainside and huge logs of pine, to protect the village from spring floods. Here and there foot bridges with convenient hand railings spanned the stream. Directly behind the dikes were planted beds of beans and peas, set in neat rows, their vines twining themselves around the bean poles. There were also plots of beets and cabbages and fields of wheat which stretched like long green ribbons away beyond the houses.
The yards of the cottages were fenced in and cleanly kept, their surfaces smoothed over with a mixture of clay and dung. The outer walls of the cottages, built of smoothly planed logs, were not smudged over with clay but several times during the year washed and scraped to sleek glossiness by hand with the aid of bits of shell or pumice stone found in the bottom of the stream. Only in the lower corners where it was impossible to fit the logs tightly together, clay was used to seal the crevices. Each house was white-washed, presenting a bright and jolly aspect, peeping from among fresh green willows, or mountain ash, and pear trees by which each homestead was surrounded.
Behind the houses were the stables, barns and other farm buildings, wooden-shingled also and built of thick planks. Only the rounded, yellow-gold peaks of innumerable straw roofs sheltering stacks of grain or hay gleamed here and there between the high four pillars which supported them.
The entrance to each residence was guarded by two eucalyptus trees between which swung a gate of twigs of intricately woven pattern. To the topmost perch of every gate was nailed a swift flying bird of prey such as an owl, jayhawk, eagle or crow, its wings outspread as if in flight and its head bowed, representing the guardian spirit of the house.
“There is my father’s residence,” said Maxim, pointing to one just like the rest among them. There was no one about
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