s as the "Idiot Asylum," rose beside the green
oaks and clustering firs of Hawkins Hill, as if it were part of the
natural phenomena. At last it was completed. Then Mr. Hawkins proceeded
to furnish it with an expensiveness and extravagance of outlay quite in
keeping with his former idiocy. Carpets, sofas, mirrors, and finally a
piano,--the only one known in the county, and brought at great expense
from Sacramento,--kept curiosity at a fever-heat. More than that, there
were articles and ornaments which a few married experts declared only
fit for women. When the furnishing of the house was complete,--it had
occupied two months of the speculative and curious attention of the
camp,--Mr. Hawkins locked the front-door, put the key in his pocket, and
quietly retired to his more humble roof, lower on the hillside.

I have not deemed it necessary to indicate to the intelligent reader all
of the theories which obtained in Five Forks during the erection of the
building. Some of them may be readily imagined. That the "Hag" had, by
artful coyness and systematic reticence, at last completely subjugated
the "Fool," and that the new house was intended for the nuptial bower of
the (predestined) unhappy pair, was, of course, the prevailing opinion.
But when, after a reasonable time had elapsed, and the house still
remained untenanted, the more exasperating conviction forced itself upon
the general mind, that the "Fool" had been for the third time imposed
upon; when two months had elapsed, and there seemed no prospect of
a mistress for the new house,--I think public indignation became so
strong, that, had the "Hag" arrived, the marriage would have been
publicly prevented. But no one appeared that seemed to answer to this
idea of an available tenant; and all inquiry of Mr. Hawkins as to his
intention in building a house, and not renting it, or occupying it,
failed to elicit any further information. The reasons that he gave were
felt to be vague, evasive, and unsatisfactory. He was in no hurry to
move, he said. When he WAS ready, it surely was not strange that he
should like to have his house all ready to receive him. He was often
seen upon the veranda, of a summer evening, smoking a cigar. It is
reported that one night the house was observed to be brilliantly lighted
from garret to basement; that a neighbor, observing this, crept toward
the open parlor-window, and, looking in, espied the "Fool" accurately
dressed in evening costume, loungin