d the sills placed in position, and I
was expecting to go on with the work as soon as Markson himself had
inspected the sills--this, he said, he wished to do before anything
further was done; and, so that he might not have any fault to find with
them, I had them sawn to order, and made half an inch larger each way,
so they couldn't possibly shrink before he could measure them.

The night before he was to come up and examine them, I was struck at the
supper-table by the idea that perhaps, from one of the western
chamber-windows, there might be seen the river which lay, between the
hills, a couple of miles beyond. As the moon was up and full, I could
not rest until I had ascertained whether I was right or wrong; so I put
a twenty-foot tapeline in my pocket, and hurried off to the hill where
the house was to stand.

Foundation three feet, height of parlor ceilings twelve feet, allow for
floors two feet more, made the chamber-floor seventeen feet above the
level of the ground.

Climbing one of the hemlocks which I thought must be in line with the
river and the window, I dropped my line until I had unrolled seventeen
feet, and then ascended until the end of the line just touched the
ground. I found I was right in my supposition; and in the clear, mellow
light of the moon the river, the hills and valleys, woods, fields,
orchards, houses and rocks (the latter ugly enough by daylight, and
utterly useless for building purposes) made a picture which set me
thinking of a great many exquisite things entirely out of the
housebuilding line.

I might have stared till the moon went down, for when I've nothing else
to do I dearly enjoy dreaming with my eyes open; but I heard a rustling
in the leaves a little way off, and then I heard footsteps, and then,
looking downward, I saw a man come up the path, and stop under the tree
in which I was.

Of course I wondered what he wanted; I should have done so, even if I
had had no business there myself; but under the circumstances, I became
very much excited.

Who could it be? Perhaps some rival builder, come to take revenge by
setting my lumber afire! I would go down and reason with him. But, wait
a moment; if he _has_ come for that purpose, he may make things
uncomfortable for me before I reach the ground. And if he sets the
lumber afire, and it catches the tree I am in, as it will certainly do,
I will be--

There is no knowing what sort of a quandary I might not have got into if
the