o collect the money, and to transfer it, as in duty
bound, to the hands of him who, if not his master, was at all times ready
and willing to exercise the authority of one, we shall follow the stranger
in his walk toward, the tottering edifice. There was little about the ruin
itself to attract the attention of one who, from his assertions, had
probably often enjoyed the opportunities of examining far more imposing
remains of former ages, on the other side of the Atlantic. It was a small
circular tower, which stood on rude pillars, connected by arches, and
might have been constructed, in the infancy of the country, as a place of
defence, though it is far more probable that it was a work of a less
warlike nature. More than half a century after the period of which we are
writing, this little edifice, peculiar in its form, its ruinous condition,
and its materials, has suddenly become the study and the theme of that
very learned sort of individual the American antiquarian. It is not
surprising that a ruin thus honoured should have become the object of many
a hot and erudite discussion. While the chivalrous in the arts and in the
antiquities of the country have been gallantly breaking their lances
around the mouldering walls, the less instructed and the less zealous have
regarded the combatants with the same species of wonder as they would have
manifested had they been present when the renowned knight of La Mancha
tilted against those other wind-mills so ingeniously described by the
immortal Cervantes.

On reaching the place, the stranger in green gave his boot a smart blow
with the riding whip, as if to attract the attention of the abstracted
young sailor, and freely remarked,--

"A very pretty object this would be, if covered with ivy, to be seen
peeping through an opening in a wood. But I beg pardon; gentlemen of your
_profession_ have little to do with woods and crumbling stones. Yonder is
the tower," pointing to the tail masts of the ship in the outer harbour,
"you love to look on; and your only ruin is a wreck!"

"You seem familiar with our tastes, sir," coldly returned the other.

"It is by instinct, then; for it is certain I have had but little
opportunity of acquiring my knowledge by actual communion with any of
the--cloth; nor do I perceive that I am likely to be more fortunate at
present. Let us be frank, my friend, and talk in amity: What do you see
about this pile of stones, that can keep you so long from your s