[Illustration:  OTSEGO HALL AFTER THE RECONSTRUCTION OF 1834.]

In 1835 Cooper wrote of this home:  “The Hall is composite enough, Heaven knows, being a mongrel of the Grecian and Gothic orders; my hall, however, is the admiration of all the mountaineers—­nearly fifty feet long, twenty-four wide, and fifteen feet high.  I have raised the ceiling three feet, and regret it had not been ten.  I have aversion to a room under jurymasts.”

[Illustration:  COOPER’S LIBRARY AT OTSEGO HALL.]

The library was a well-shaped room of twenty by twenty-four feet, the ceiling twelve feet above.  Its deep, dark oak windows opened on the thick shade-trees of the quiet southwest; the walls, well-lined with books of value, could show no complete set of his own.  In one corner of this room was a large folding screen on which were pasted print-pictures of places they had visited during their seven years’ tour of Europe; a like screen was in the hall.  In this library was the author’s plain, shining, English walnut writing-table and chair, whose first owner was Richard Fenimore, Cooper’s maternal grandfather, of Rancocus, New Jersey; many of Cooper’s works were written upon it.  On the opposite side of the hall was the author’s bedchamber.  It is interesting to learn from Mr. Keese that the large north bed-rooms, so cold in winter, were known as “Siberia” and “Greenland,” while those on the south, and warm in summer, were called “Florida” and “Italy.”  We are told the grounds were changed by winding walks and the setting out of trees—­not a few with Cooper’s own hands.  And under these fine trees, in their southwest favored corner, shadows and sunlight play hide and seek about a copy of Mr. and Mrs. Cooper’s favorite garden seat.  Great gates were made for the garden entrance, as heavy and hard to move as those of “The Hutted Knoll” in the author’s story of “Wyandotte.”  It was indeed an attractive home, made more so by its attractive inmates.  Concerning these Mr. Keese writes:  “Noting Cooper’s fondness for animals, the family brought from Paris a magnificent ‘tiger’ cat weighing fifteen pounds—­’Coquelicot’ by name.  He lived at the Hall until the day of his death, and occupied the most comfortable chair in the parlor and was rarely disturbed.”  Finally the old Hall became their only home, and here, in his stronghold at the foot of the Glimmerglass, Cooper kept open house for his friends.

[Illustration:  COPY OF COOPER’S GARDEN SEAT.]

During the summer months he took a lively interest in his garden.  From his daughter we learn:  “It was his delight to watch the growth of different plants day by day.  His hot-beds were of the earliest, and he was the first to grow egg-plant, Brussels sprouts, and other unusual vegetables and fruits.”  The first and choicest of fruit or vegetable was gathered by himself as a little offering to Mrs. Cooper, and placed by him at her plate at table.  And he took great pleasure in carrying with his own hands baskets of choice fruit and vegetables to different friends and neighbors.  Many were these that the author and his old shipmate Ned Myers carried about the village to different homes.