r vitriol when it is a hundred years old,' and this had only
seen the summer of twenty. But a precious odor breathed from the casks,
and the corroding capsules confessed the mighty powers that lurked
within. Inhaling this odor, you seemed to see the Original White Hermit
himself, brooding over his tiny principality of barren rock, and
performing miracles with the aid of the imported carboy and the
indigenous rill. As the evening gloomed, and twilight fell among the
crags, a faint snicker spread upon the air, and in the dim light of the
rising moon one might fancy a finger laid to the side of the nose of the
holy man. From these reveries, a smart blow on the back, neatly executed
by the butler, recalled your active attention to a demi-john of
warranted French brandy, and a can of Bourbon certified by the
hand-writing of Louis Capet himself. Upon the sawdust in the lower
niches of the vault lay packages of the finest Hollands, wicker
casements of Curacoa, and the apple-jack of Jersey in gleaming glass.
But the eye dwelt finally, and with a crowning wonder and approval, upon
an entire basket of the celebrated eleven-dollar Heidsieck champagne,
blue label, that lay upon the floor of the crypt.

The acquisition of this treasure was one of those rare good-fortunes by
which the life of here and there an individual is illustrated. About a
year previous to this, in the dead of night, a mysterious stranger
solicited audience of the master of Pont-Noir. Attended by the entire
force of the house in complete armor, Roseton granted the interview. The
stranger advanced within easy gun-shot, and said:--'The great house of
Boscobello, Bolaro and Company is in imminent peril. Unless a certain
sum can be raised by two o'clock to-morrow, their acceptances will lie
over. These acceptances constitute the entire loan and discount line of
thirty-eight of the Banks of this city, for they have latterly made it a
rule to take nothing else.' A meaning glance shot from the stranger's
eye as he delivered this fearful announcement, but Roseton remained
firm, though a cold shiver passed through the frames of his domestics,
who were aware how vitally he was interested. 'The pledge of their stock
of wine alone,' continued the mysterious visitant, 'will relieve them
from their difficulties, and the capitalists then stand ready to carry
them forward if they will retire from the Southern trade. Ten hundred
nickels is the sum required, and I stand prepared t