{"product_id":"2940013499614","title":"THE LATE MRS. NULL","description":"CHAPTER I.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere was a wide entrance gate to the old family mansion of Midbranch,\u003cbr\u003ebut it was never opened to admit the family or visitors; although\u003cbr\u003eoccasionally a load of wood, drawn by two horses and two mules, came\u003cbr\u003ebetween its tall chestnut posts, and was taken by a roundabout way among\u003cbr\u003ethe trees to a spot at the back of the house, where the chips of several\u003cbr\u003egenerations of sturdy wood-choppers had formed a ligneous soil deeper\u003cbr\u003ethan the arable surface of any portion of the nine hundred and fifty\u003cbr\u003eacres which formed the farm of Midbranch. This seldom opened gate was in\u003cbr\u003ea corner of the lawn, and the driving of carriages, or the riding of\u003cbr\u003ehorses through it to the porch at the front of the house would have been\u003cbr\u003ethe ruin of the short, thick grass which had covered that lawn, it was\u003cbr\u003egenerally believed, ever since Virginia became a State.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut there had to be some way for people who came in carriages or on\u003cbr\u003ehorseback to get into the house, and therefore the fence at the bottom\u003cbr\u003eof the lawn, at a point directly in front of the porch, was crossed by a\u003cbr\u003eset of broad wooden steps, five outside and five inside, with a platform\u003cbr\u003eat the top. These stairs were wide enough to accommodate eight people\u003cbr\u003eabreast; so that if a large carriage load of visitors arrived, none of\u003cbr\u003ethem need delay in crossing the fence. At the outside of the steps ran\u003cbr\u003ethe narrow road which entered the plantation a quarter of a mile away,\u003cbr\u003eand passed around the lawn and the garden to the barns and stables at\u003cbr\u003ethe back.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn the other side of the road, undivided from it by hedge or fence,\u003cbr\u003estretched, like a sea gently moved by a groundswell, a vast field,\u003cbr\u003esometimes planted in tobacco, and sometimes in wheat. In the midst of\u003cbr\u003ethis field stood a tall persimmon tree which yearly dropped its\u003cbr\u003ehalf-candied fruit upon the first light snow of the winter. It is true\u003cbr\u003ethat persimmons, quite fit to eat, were to be found on this tree at an\u003cbr\u003eearlier period than this, but such fruit was never noticed by the people\u003cbr\u003ein those parts, who would not rudely wrench from Jack Frost his one\u003cbr\u003elittle claim to rivalry with the sun as a fruit-ripener. To the right of\u003cbr\u003ethe field was a wide extent of pasture land, running down to a small\u003cbr\u003estream, or \"branch,\" which, flowing between two other streams of the\u003cbr\u003esame kind a mile or two on either side of it, had given its name to the\u003cbr\u003eplace. In front, to the left, lay a great forest of chestnut, oak,\u003cbr\u003esassafras, and sweet gum, with here and there a clump of tall pines,\u003cbr\u003estanding up straight and stiff with an air of Puritanic condemnation of\u003cbr\u003ethe changing fashions of the foliage about them.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47079560839408,"sku":"2940013499614","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013499614_p0.jpg?v=1763581684","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013499614","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}