ch, at the opposite extremity of
the oblong belt of rocks that shut it in on every hand, he had
discovered an opening, through which the transport of such necessaries
as were essential to his object might be effected; and, causing one of
his dwelling houses to be pulled down, he had the materials carried
across the rocks on the shoulders of the men employed to re-erect them
in his chosen solitude. A few months served to complete these
arrangements, which included a garden abounding in every fruit and
flower that could possibly live in so elevated a region; and; this, in
time, under his own culture, and that of his daughter, became the Eden
it first appeared to me.

"Previous to their entering on this employment, the workmen had been
severally sworn to secrecy; and when all was declared ready for his
reception, the colonel summoned them a second time to his presence;
when, after making a handsome present to each, in addition to his hire,
he found no difficulty in prevailing on them to renew their oath that
they would preserve the most scrupulous silence in regard to the place
of his retreat. He then took advantage of a dark and tempestuous night
to execute his project; and, attended only by an old woman and her
daughter, faithful dependants of the family, set out in quest of his
new abode, leaving all his neighbours to discuss and marvel at the
singularity of his disappearance. True to his text, however, not even a
boy was admitted into his household: and here they had continued to
live, unseeing and unseen by man, except when a solitary and distant
mountaineer occasionally flitted among the rocks below in pursuit of
his game. Fruits and vegetables composed their principal diet; but once
a fortnight the old woman was dispatched through the opening already
mentioned, which was at other times so secured by her master, that no
hand but his own could remove the intricate fastenings. This expedition
had for its object the purchase of bread and animal food at the nearest
market; and every time she sallied forth an oath was administered to
the crone, the purport of which was, not only that she would return,
unless prevented by violence or death, but that she would not answer
any questions put to her, as to who she was, whence she came, or for
whom the fruits of her marketing were intended.

"Meanwhile, wrapped up in his books, which were chiefly classic
authors, or writers on abstruse sciences, the misanthropical colonel
paid