lerably well known villages of Boston and
Philadelphia in their entirety; and one undivided tenth of the stock of
the Valley Bank. It was upon the last investment that Roseton chiefly
drew for his expenses. 'My fancy,' said he, 'inclines me to convert
Boston into an observatory, and Philadelphia into a tea-garden, and
nothing but an amiable regard for the comfort of a handful of families
prevents at once from carrying such plans into effect. My mansion is of
necessity unproductive; and the Mississippi bullion is greatly needed
where it already is. City property is a dreadful nuisance, the taxes are
outrageous and the tenants pay poorly; and although the New York Banks
announce dividends, yet when you come to look at their actual condition,
hum, hum;--is that door shut?--just put your ear a little this way, so;
there, I say nothing; there are Banks and Banks; but a building may have
two doors, and what goes _out_ at one may come _in_ again at the other,
eh? Mind, I say nothing. So you see, beside the East Haddam diamond
mines, which are at present badly worked; and a few South American
republics which are chiefly occupied in assassinating their presidents;
and a border State or two that usually leave me to provide for their
half-yearly coupons;--besides these resources, you see, I have really
little else to look to but the Valley Bank.'

While the possessor of this wealth is undergoing his morning toilet, let
us attend the steps of his butler in chief, whose duty it was to prepare
the eleven-o'clocker with which Roseton was accustomed to fortify
himself against the fatigues of the middle part of the day. Passing down
a succession of flights of stairs, each one consisting of two hundred
and twenty-five steps of the finest ebony, we at last find ourselves in
an immense cavern, dimly lighted by the internal fires of the earth,
which are here approached and verified. It was, however, left for
Roseton to discover that these flames consisted of negative qualities as
to caloric; and a project for cooling the streets of Newport by night,
in summer, by means of floods of brilliant radiance, every point of
which shall surpass the calcium light of the Museum, will soon evince to
society that Roseton has not lived in vain. It was indeed a place of
rarest temperature, and a sublime sense of personal exaltation thrilled
you as you entered. The butler approached an arch, and unlocking a
wicker door which was ingeniously contrived to adm