t he might
have laid his smooth and slippery timbers from the eminence to the side
of Mrs. Cliff's house, so that when all should be ready he could have
knocked away the blocks which held the building, so that he could have
launched it as if it had been a ship, and could have beheld it sliding
gracefully and rapidly from its stocks into its appointed position. But
as this would probably have resulted in razing Mrs. Cliff's old house to
the level of the ground, he did not long regret that he had not been
able to afford himself the pleasure of this grand spectacle.

The night before the day on which the new building was to be moved, the
lot next to Mrs. Cliff's house was covered by masons, laborers, and
wagons hauling stones, and by breakfast-time the next morning the new
cellar was completed.

Almost immediately the great timbers, which, polished and greased, had
been waiting for several days, were put in their places, and the great
steam engines and windlasses, which had been ready as long a time, were
set in motion. And, as the house began to move upon its course, it
almost missed a parting dab from the brush of a painter who was at work
upon some final trimming.

That afternoon, as Mrs. Cliff happened to be in her dining-room, she
remarked to Willy that it was getting dark very early, but she would not
pull up the blind of the side window, because she would then look out on
the new cellar, and she had promised Mr. Burke not to look at anything
until he had told her to do so. Willy, who had looked out of the side
door at least fifty times that day, knew that the early darkness was
caused by the shadows thrown by a large building slowly approaching from
the west.

When Mrs. Cliff came downstairs the next morning she was met by Willy,
very much excited, who told her that Mr. Burke wished to see her.

"Where is he?" said she. "At the dining-room door," answered Willy, and
as Mrs. Cliff turned towards the little room in which she had been
accustomed to take her meals, Willy seized her hand and led her into
the side hall. There, in the open doorway, stood Mr. Burke, his high
silk hat in one hand, and the other outstretched towards her.

"Welcome to your new dining-room, madam!" said he, as he took her hand
and led her into the great room, which seemed to her, as she gazed in
amazement about her, like a beautiful public hall.

We will not follow Mrs. Cliff, Willy, and the whole body of domestic
servants, as they pass