Baptist any more than I?' continued Somerset.

'O no. And I never knew one till I knew Paula. I think they are very
nice; though I sometimes wish Paula was not one, but the religion of
reasonable persons.'

They walked on, and came opposite to where the telegraph emerged from
the trees, leapt over the parapet, and up through the loophole into the
interior.

'That looks strange in such a building,' said her companion.

'Miss Power had it put up to know the latest news from town. It costs
six pounds a mile. She can work it herself, beautifully: and so can
I, but not so well. It was a great delight to learn. Miss Power was
so interested at first that she was sending messages from morning till
night. And did you hear the new clock?'

'Is it a new one?--Yes, I heard it.'

'The old one was quite worn out; so Paula has put it in the cellar, and
had this new one made, though it still strikes on the old bell. It tells
the seconds, but the old one, which my very great grandfather erected in
the eighteenth century, only told the hours. Paula says that time,
being so much more valuable now, must of course be cut up into smaller
pieces.'

'She does not appear to be much impressed by the spirit of this ancient
pile.'

Miss De Stancy shook her head too slightly to express absolute negation.

'Do you wish to come through this door?' she asked. 'There is a singular
chimney-piece in the kitchen, which is considered a unique example of
its kind, though I myself don't know enough about it to have an opinion
on the subject.'

When they had looked at the corbelled chimney-piece they returned to the
hall, where his eye was caught anew by a large map that he had conned
for some time when alone, without being able to divine the locality
represented. It was called 'General Plan of the Town,' and showed
streets and open spaces corresponding with nothing he had seen in the
county.

'Is that town here?' he asked.

'It is not anywhere but in Paula's brain; she has laid it out from her
own design. The site is supposed to be near our railway station, just
across there, where the land belongs to her. She is going to grant cheap
building leases, and develop the manufacture of pottery.'

'Pottery--how very practical she must be!'

'O no! no!' replied Miss De Stancy, in tones showing how supremely
ignorant he must be of Miss Power's nature if he characterized her in
those terms. 'It is GREEK pottery she means--Hellenic pottery she tells