nce which Teddy was roasting in a frying-pan.

"Sure it's coffee," said the man.

"Eh?" inquired Jack.

"Coffee, sur," repeated Teddy with emphasis.

"What is it made of?" inquired Jack.

"Bread-crumbs, sur. I'm used to make it of pais, but it takes longer,
d'ye see, for I've got to pound 'em in a cloth after they're roasted.
The crumbs is a'most as good as the pais, an' quicker made whin yer in a
hurry."

Jack's first impulse was to countermand the crumbs and order tea, but he
refrained, and went out to survey the back regions of his new home.

He found that the point selected for the establishment of the fort was a
plain of sand, on which little herbage of any kind grew. In rear of the
house there was a belt of stunted bushes, which, as he went onward into
the interior, became a wood of stunted firs. This seemed to grow a
little more dense farther inland, and finally terminated at the base of
the distant and rugged mountains of the interior. In fact, he found
that he was established on a sandbank which had either been thrown up by
the sea, or at no very remote period had formed part of its bed.
Returning home so as to enter by the front door, he observed an enclosed
space a few hundred yards distant from the fort. Curious to know what
it was, he walked up to it, and, looking over the stockade, beheld
numerous little mounds of sand with wooden crosses at the head of them.
It was the burial-ground of the establishment. Trade had been carried
on here by a few adventurous white men before the fort was built. Some
of their number having died, a space had been enclosed as a
burying-ground. The Roman Catholic Indians afterwards used it, and it
was eventually consecrated with much ceremony by a priest.

With a face from which every vestige of intelligence was removed, Jack
Robinson returned to the fort and sat down in solitary state in the
hall. In the act of sitting down he discovered that the only arm-chair
in the room was unsteady on its legs, these being of unequal length.
There were two other chairs without arms, and equally unsteady on their
legs. These, as well as everything in the room, were made of fir-wood--
as yet unpainted. In the empty fire-place Jack observed a piece of
charcoal, which he took up and began, in an absent way, to sketch on the
white wall. He portrayed a raving maniac as large as life, and then,
sitting down, began insensibly to hum--

"I dreamt that I dwelt in marble halls.