tend to these fields?"

"It goes much farther, sir; that is to say, on paper. In the way of
houses, it is still some miles short of them. A good deal depends on
what you _call_ a thing, in this market. Now, if old Volkert Van
Brunt's property had been still called a farm, it would have brought
a farm price; but, as soon as it was surveyed into lots and mapped--"

"Mapped!"

"Yes, sir; brought into visible lines, with feet and inches. As soon
as it was properly mapped, it rose to its just value. We have a good
deal of the bottom of the sea that brings fair prices in consequence
of being well mapped."

Here the gentlemen expressed their sense of the auctioneer's
politeness, and retired.

"We will now go into the sales-room," said John Effingham, "where you
shall judge of the spirit, or _energy_, as it is termed, which, at
this moment, actuates this great nation."

Descending, they entered a crowd, where scores were eagerly bidding
against each other, in the fearful delusion of growing rich by
pushing a fancied value to a point still higher. One was purchasing
ragged rocks, another the bottom of rivers, a third a bog, and all on
the credit of maps. Our two observers remained some time silent
spectators of the scene.

"When I first entered that room," said John Effingham, as they left
the place, "it appeared to me to be filled with maniacs. Now, that I
have been in it several times, the impression is not much altered."

"And all those persons are hazarding their means of subsistence on
the imaginary estimate mentioned by the auctioneer?"

"They are gambling as recklessly as he who places his substance on
the cast of the die. So completely has the mania seized every one,
that the obvious truth, a truth which is as apparent as any other law
of nature, that nothing can be sustained without a foundation, is
completely overlooked, and he who should now proclaim, in this
building, principles that bitter experience will cause every man to
feel, within the next few years, would be happy if he escaped being
stoned. I have witnessed many similar excesses in the way of
speculations; but never an instance as gross, as wide-spread, and as
alarming as this."

"You apprehend serious consequences, then, from the reaction?"

"In that particular, we are better off than older nations, the youth
and real stamina of the country averting much of the danger; but I
anticipate a terrible blow, and that the day is not remote when this