Collected works > Edinburgh edition, 1894-98 - Works of Robert Louis Stevenson > Volume 3, 1895 - Travels and Excursions, Volume II

TOILS AND PLEASURES
I MUST try to convey some notion of our life, of how
the days passed and what pleasure we took in them,
of what there was to do and how we set about doing
it, in our mountain hermitage. The house, after we
had repaired the worst of the damages, and filled in
some of the doors and windows with white cotton
cloth, became a healthy and a pleasant dwelling-
place, always airy and dry, and haunted by the
outdoor perfumes of the glen. Within, it had the
look of habitation, the human look. You had only
to go into the third room, which we did not use,
and see its stones, its sifting earth, its tumbled litter;
and then return to our lodging, with the beds made,
the plates on the rack, the pail of bright water
behind the door, the stove crackling in a corner,
and perhaps the table roughly laid against a meal,
— and man's order, the little clean spots that he
creates to dwell in, were at once contrasted with the
rich passivity of nature. And yet our house was
everywhere so wrecked and shattered, the air came
and went so freely, the sun found so many portholes,
the golden outdoor glow shone in so many open
323