Right in the centre overhead, way up, way up, is a crystal ruff made to represent the sky, and it seems to be a-glitterin’ in its crystal beauty way up in the clouds; underneath wuz the most beautiful pictures you ever see, or Josiah, or anybody.  They wuz painted in Paris—­not Paris in the upper end of Lyme County, but Paris in France, way over the billowy Atlantic; and under this magnificent dome wuz all kinds of the most beautiful palms, bamboos and tree ferns, with their shiny, feathery foliage, and big leaves.  Why some of them long, feathery leaves wuz so big, if the tree wuz in the middle of our dooryard the ends of ’em would go over into the orchard—­one leaf; the idee!  Why, you would almost fancy you wuz in a tropical forest, as you looked up into the great feathery masses and leaves as big as a hull tree almost; and risin’ right in the centre wuz a mountain sixty feet high all covered with tropical verdure; leadin’ into it wuz a shady, cool grotto, where wuz all kinds of ferns, and exquisite plants, that love to grow in such spots.

And way in through, a-flashin’ through the cool darkness of the spot, you could see the wonderful rays of that strange light that has a soul.

And if you will believe it—­I don’t spoze you will—­but there is plants here grown by that artificial light—­the idee!

I sez to Josiah, “Did you ever see anything like the idee of growin’ plants by lamplight?” and he sez—­

“It is a new thing, but a crackin’ good one,” and he added—­

“What can be done in one place can in another,” and he got all excited up, and took his old account-book out of his pocket and went to calculatin’ on how many cowcumbers he could raise in the winter down suller by the light of his old lantern.

I discouraged him, and sez I, “You can’t raise plants by the light of that old karsene lantern, and there hain’t no room, anyway, in our suller.”

And he said, “He wuz bound to spade up round the pork barrel and try a few hills, anyway;” and sez he, dreamily, “We might raise a few string-beans and have ’em run up on the soap tub.”

But I made him put up his book, for we wuz attractin’ attention, and I told him agin that we hadn’t got the conveniences to home that they had here.

He put up his book and we wended on, but he had a look on his face that made me think he hadn’t gin up the idee, and I spoze that some good cowcumber seed will be wasted like as not, to say nothin’ of karsene.

Wall, all connected with this house is two big open courts, full and runnin’ over with beauty and wonder; on the south is the aquatic garden, showin’ all the plants and flowers and wonderful water growth.

Here Josiah begun to make calculations agin about growin’ flowers in our old mill-pond, but I broke it up.

On the north court is a magnificent orange grove.  Why, it makes you feel as though you wuz a-standin’ in California or Florida, under the beautiful green trees, full of the ripe, rich fruit, and blossoms, and green leaves.