then a
manufacturer by water power of cheap household furniture, and failed again:
then a large hay-dealer: then a holder of nobody knows how many shares in
the Marr Estate, whereby he managed to feather his nest very handsomely,
they say; then he went into the land business, and bought and sold township
after township, till he was believed to be worth half a million, and used
to give away a tithe of his profits to poor widows, at the rate of ten
thousand dollars a year; offering the cash, but always giving on
interest--simple interest--which was never paid--failed: tried his hand at
working Jewell's Island, in Casco Bay, at one time, for copperas; and at
another, for treasures buried there by Captain Kyd. Let us call him Colonel
Jones, for our present purpose; that being a name he went by, at a pinch,
for a short period.

Well, one day he called upon me--it was in the year 1842, I should
say--and, shutting the door softly, and looking about, as if to make sure
that no listeners were nigh, and speaking in a low voice, he asked if I had
a few minutes to spare.

I bowed.

He then drew his chair up close to mine, so near as to touch, and, looking
me straight in the eyes, asked if I was a believer in animal magnetism;
waiting, open-mouthed, for my answer.

"Certainly," said I.

Whereupon he drew a long breath, and fell to rubbing his hands with great
cheerfulness and pertinacity.

"In clairvoyance, too--_perhaps_?"

"Most assuredly--up to a certain point."

"I knew it! I knew it!" jumping up and preparing to go. "Just what I
wanted--that's enough--I'm satisfied--good-by!"

"Stop a moment, my good fellow. The questions you put are so general that
my answers may mislead you."

He began to grow restless and fidgety.

"Although I am a believer in what _I_ call animal magnetism and
clairvoyance, I would not have you understand that I am a believer in a
hundredth part of the stories told of others. What I see with my own eyes,
and have had a fair opportunity of investigating and verifying, that I
believe. What others tell me, I neither believe nor disbelieve. I wait for
the proof. Suppose you state the case fairly."

"Do you believe that a clairvoyant can see hidden treasure in the earth,
and that it would be safe to rely upon the assurances of such a person made
in the magnetic sleep?"

"No."

"But suppose you had tried her?"

"_Her!_ In what way?"

"By hiding a watch, for example, or a bit of gold, or a s