It is a mere skeleton of slender , decaying tree trunks , with neither walls nor a roof ; nothing but a tracery of branches and twigs , which the next wintry blast will be very likely to scatter in fragments along the terrace . It looks , and is , as evanescent as a dream ; and yet , in its rustic network of boughs , it has somehow enclosed a hint of spiritual beauty , and has become a true emblem of the subtile and ethereal mind that planned it . I made Eustace Bright sit down on a snow bank , which had heaped itself over the mossy seat , and gazing through the arched windows opposite , he acknowledged that the scene at once grew picturesque . `` Simple as it looks , '' said he , `` this little edifice seems to be the work of magic . It is full of suggestiveness , and , in its way , is as good as a cathedral . Ah , it would be just the spot for one to sit in , of a summer afternoon , and tell the children some more of those wild stories from the classic myths ! '' `` It would , indeed , '' answered I. `` The summer house itself , so airy and so broken , is like one of those old tales , imperfectly remembered ; and these living branches of the Baldwin apple tree , thrusting so rudely in , are like your unwarrantable interpolations . But , by the by , have you added any more legends to the series , since the publication of the ` Wonder-Book ' ? '' `` Many more , '' said Eustace ; `` Primrose , Periwinkle , and the rest of them , allow me no comfort of my life unless I tell them a story every day or two . I have run away from home partly to escape the importunity of these little wretches ! But I have written out six of the new stories , and have brought them for you to look over . '' `` Are they as good as the first ? '' I inquired . `` Better chosen , and better handled , '' replied Eustace Bright . `` You will say so when you read them . '' `` Possibly not , '' I remarked . `` I know from my own experience , that an author 's last work is always his best one , in his own estimate , until it quite loses the red heat of composition . After that , it falls into its true place , quietly enough . But let us adjourn to my study , and examine these new stories . It would hardly be doing yourself justice , were you to bring me acquainted with them , sitting here on this snow bank ! ''
So we descended the hill XXXXX my small , old cottage , and shut ourselves up in the south-eastern room , where the sunshine comes in , warmly and brightly , through the better half of a winter 's day .
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