ent out to the barn--all the men were there. I gave orders
to them to warn the intruders off; if they resisted, to knock them down
without ceremony and keep them in custody till I could get them before a
magistrate. Having satisfied my mind on these points, I felt so sure of
my object being gained in both respects--that is, Martha and the
railway--that I dispatched my letter to old Morgan, inviting the whole
family to dine with me on Friday, the day I had fixed on for the
marriage. Martha sat by my side in the study, and went on with the
everlasting Ottoman square. I read to her--

"'Is it in the circle of possible events--is it a contingency to be
calculated on in the decrees of fate,' exclaimed Theodore
Fitzhedingham--(this was the finest bit out of my last chapter)--'that
the girl I have loved--the paragon I have worshipped--the angel I have
adored, is, indeed no longer the humbly born maid I thought her but the
descendant of princes--the kinswoman of emperors--the inheritrix of
kings?'

"'It certainly is far from false, nay, it is absolutely true,' returned
Maria Valentine de Courcy, with a condescending smile, 'that I am not
the person you have taken me for, but oh! beloved Theodore--faithful
Fitzhedingham, need I tell you that my love is unaltered, my affections
are unabated, my heart unchanged'"----

"Sir! sir!" cried voice at the door, "they be come." I hurried out; my
servant was armed with the poker, I seized the hall tongs as I passed
through; and on the lawn, in the coolest possible manner, were about
half a dozen fellows smoking their cigars, and occasionally looking
through a bright brass instrument upon a three-legged stand, and noting
down the result with the greatest nonchalance.

"Oho!" I cried, and rushed at the intruders, "run for the people in the
barn, Thomas. Who are you, you infernal interloping vagabonds?"

"Engineers of the Episcopal and Universal Railway Company, sir, and we
will trouble you to stand out of the way," said a tall blackguard,
scarcely deigning to look at me.

"Oh, you are, are you? Just wait a minute till my men come up, and I'll
have you and your railway ducked in the horsepond."

"Don't interrupt us, old man," replied the scientific ruffian; "if we do
any damage, charge it to the Company--we have seventy-five thousand
shares, and can afford to pay any claims."

"Here!" I cried to the men, "catch that long villain with the dwarf
telescope and take him into the house; i