illed him. There it loomed in the misty, winter night,
the mightiest building on the continent, blue-white, sharply outlined,
massive as a mountain, yet seemingly as light as a winter cloud.
Weighing myriads of tons, it seemed quite as insubstantial as the mist
which transfigured it. Against the cold-white of its marble, and out of
the gray-white enveloping mist, bloomed the warm light of lamps, like
vast lilies with hearts of fire and halos of faint light.

He stood for a long time looking upon it, musing upon its historic
associations. Around him he heard the grinding wheels, the click of the
horses' hoofs upon the asphalt pavement, and heard the shouts of
drivers. Somewhere near him water was falling with a musical sound in a
subterranean sluiceway. At last he came to himself with a start, and
found his arm aching with the fatigue of his heavy valise. He struck
off down the avenue. It seemed to swarm with colored people. They were
selling papers, calling with musical, bell-like voices--

"Evenin' Sty-ah!" "Evenin' Sty-ah!"

Horse cars tinkled along, and a peculiar form of elongated 'bus, with
the word "Carette" painted upon it, rolled along noiselessly over the
asphalt pavement. An old man in business dress, with rather
aristocratic side-whiskers, came toward him, walking briskly through
the crowd, an open hand-bag swung around his neck; and as he walked he
chanted a peculiar cry--

"Doc-tor Ferguson's, selly-brated, double X, Philadelphia cough-drops,
for coughs _and_ colds, sore throat or hoarseness; five _cents_ a
package."

Innumerable signs invited him to "meals at 15 and 25 cts." "Rolls and
French drip coffee, 10 cts." "Oysters in every style," etc.

The oyster saloons were, in general, very attractive to him, as a
Western man, but specifically he did not like the looks of the places
in which they were served. He came at last to a place which seemed
clean and free from a bar, and ventured to call for a twenty-five cent
stew.

After eating this, he again took his way to the street, and walked
along, looking for a moderate-priced hotel. He did not think of going
to a hotel that charged more than seventy-five cents for a room. He
came at length to quite a decent-looking place, which advertised rooms
for fifty cents and upwards. He registered under the clerk's calm
misprision, and the brown and wonderfully freckled colored boy showed
him to his room.

It was all quite familiar to him--this hotel to which