smoked-oak

Updated: May 7, 2025

How can the owner of a dainty chalet, with smoked-oak furniture, imitation Venetian tapestry curtains, hot and cold water laid on, a bed of geraniums and hollyhocks, a baby crawling down the veranda, and a self-acting twirly-whirly hose gently hissing over the grass in the balmy dusk of an August evening how can such a man despair of the Republic, or descend into the streets on voting days and mix cheerfully with "the boys"?

Rudyard Kipling - American Notes