Beyond these venerable ranks, and running parallel to them, were
two high walls, of apparently the like antiquity, overgrown with ivy,
honeysuckle, and other climbing plants. The avenue seemed very little
trodden, and chiefly by foot-passengers; so that being very broad, and
enjoying a constant shade, it was clothed with grass of a deep and rich
verdure, excepting where a foot-path, worn by occasional passengers,
tracked with a natural sweep the way from the upper to the lower gate.
This nether portal, like the former, opened in front of a wall ornamented
with some rude sculpture, with battlements on the top, over which were
seen, half-hidden by the trees of the avenue, the high steep roofs and
narrow gables of the mansion, with lines indented into steps, and corners
decorated with small turrets. One of the folding leaves of the lower gate
was open, and as the sun shone full into the court behind, a long line of
brilliancy was flung upon the aperture up the dark and gloomy avenue. It
was one of those effects which a painter loves to represent, and mingled
well with the struggling light which found its way between the boughs of
the shady arch that vaulted the broad green alley.
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