feebly endeavoured to solve as I lay waiting
my turn.

It came at last. I felt myself lifted on high, and heard my merits
pronounced in the words of the catalogue.

"Lot 68. London made, lever, open-face watch, capped and jewelled, in
very fine order."

"Look for yourselves, gentlemen."

The gentlemen did look for themselves, and complimented me by a
preliminary bid of 15 shillings.

The auctioneer laughed a pleasant laugh, as much as to say, "That is a
capital joke," and waited for the next bid.

It was not long in coming, and I advanced rapidly by half-crowns to
thirty shillings. Here I made sure I should stop, for this was the
figure at which the pawnbroker himself had valued me. But no; such are
the vagaries of an auction, I went on still, up to L2, and from that to
L2 10 shillings. Surely there was some mistake. I looked out to see
who they were who were thus bidding for me, and fancied I detected in
that scrutiny the secret of my unexpected value.

It was a countryman bidding--endeavouring in his downright way to become
my possessor, and wholly unconscious of the array of Jews against him,
who bid him up from half-crown to half-crown until I had nearly reached
my original value.

"Three pounds," at last said one of the Jews.

The countryman had evidently come to the end of his tether, and did not
answer the challenge.

"Three pounds," said the auctioneer; "you're not going to stop, sir?"

The countryman said nothing.

"Try once more," said the auctioneer; but the rustic was silent.

"Three pounds; no more? Going, going--"

"Guineas!" roared the countryman, at the last moment.

"Thank you, sir; I thought you were not going to be beaten. Three
guineas, gentlemen; who says more? Nobody? Going, then, to you, sir;
going, going, gone!"

And so, once more, I changed masters.

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

HOW, AFTER MUCH CEREMONY, I FOUND MYSELF IN THE POCKET OF A GENIUS.

Muggerbridge is a straggling, picturesque little midland village, with
one principal street, an old church, a market-place, and a pound. Its
population, all told, does not number a thousand, the majority of whom
are engaged in agriculture; its houses are for the most part old-
fashioned and poor, though clean; and altogether its general character
and appearance combine to proclaim the village an unpretending English
hamlet, with nothing whatever but its name to distinguish it from a
hundred others like it.

It was here I