It was reached by three steps, carefully made with stakes and planks filled in with broken stone and gravel, so that the water ran off rapidly; and as the rain seldom comes from the northward in Burgundy, no dampness could rot the foundations, slight as they were.

Below the steps and along the path ran a rustic paling, hidden beneath a hedge of hawthorn and sweet-brier.
An arbor, with a few clumsy tables and wooden benches, filled the space between the cottage and the road, and invited the passers-by to rest themselves.

At the upper end of the bank by the house roses grew, and wall-flowers, violets, and other flowers that cost nothing.

Jessamine and honey-suckle had fastened their tendrils on the roof, mossy already, though the building was far from old.
To the right of the house, the owner had built a stable for two cows.

In front of this erection of old boards, a sunken piece of ground served as a yard where, in a corner, was a huge manure-heap.