end and helper, with
a bundle of permits, with which they set off upon their quest.

They visited a dozen houses in the course of the afternoon, carefully
chosen in their succession by Mr. Talbot, who was as sure of Mr.
Belcher's tastes as he was of his own. One street was too quiet, one was
too dark; one house was too small, and one was too tame; one house had
no stable, another had too small a stable. At last, they came out upon
Fifth avenue, and drove up to a double front, with a stable almost as
ample and as richly appointed as the house itself. It had been built,
and occupied for a year or two, by an exploded millionaire, and was an
elephant upon the hands of his creditors. Robert Belcher was happy at
once. The marvelous mirrors, the plate glass, the gilded cornices, the
grand staircase, the glittering chandeliers, the evidences of lavish
expenditure in every fixture, and in all the finish, excited him like
wine.

"Now you talk!" said he to the smiling factor; and as he went to the
window, and saw the life of the street, rolling by in costly carriages,
or sweeping the sidewalks with shining silks and mellow velvets, he felt
that he was at home. Here he could see and be seen. Here his splendors
could be advertised. Here he could find an expression for his wealth, by
the side of which his establishment at Sevenoaks seemed too mean to be
thought of without humiliation and disgust. Here was a house that
gratified his sensuous nature through and through, and appealed
irresistibly to his egregious vanity. He did not know that the grand and
gaudy establishment bore the name of "Palgrave's Folly," and, probably,
it would have made no difference with him if he had. It suited him, and
would, in his hands, become Belcher's Glory.

The sum demanded for the place, though very large, did not cover its
original cost, and in this fact Mr. Belcher took great comfort. To enjoy
fifty thousand dollars, which somebody else had made, was a charming
consideration with him, and one that did much to reconcile him to an
expenditure far beyond his original purpose.

When he had finished his examination of the house, he returned to his
hotel, as business hours were past, and he could make no further headway
that day in his negotiations. The more he thought of the house, the more
uneasy he became. Somebody might have seen him looking at it, and so
reached the broker first, and snatched it from his grasp. He did not
know that it had been in