General's side. Come with us to Oneida. Brook Farm is a thing of
the past."


CHAPTER VI.


As Lothaw drove toward his country-seat, "The Mural Enclosure," he
observed a crowd, apparently of the working class, gathered around
a singular-looking man in the picturesque garb of an Ethiopian
serenader. "What does he say?" inquired Lothaw of his driver.

The man touched his hat respectfully and said, "My Mary Ann."

"'My Mary Ann!'" Lothaw's heart beat rapidly. Who was this
mysterious foreigner? He had heard from Lady Coriander of a
certain Popish plot; but could he connect Mr. Camperdown with it?

The spectacle of two hundred men at arms who advanced to meet him
at the gates of The Mural Enclosure drove all else from the still
youthful and impressible mind of Lothaw. Immediately behind them,
on the steps of the baronial halls, were ranged his retainers, led
by the chief cook and bottle-washer, and head crumb-remover. On
either side were two companies of laundry-maids, preceded by the
chief crimper and fluter, supporting a long Ancestral Line, on
which depended the family linen, and under which the youthful lord
of the manor passed into the halls of his fathers. Twenty-four
scullions carried the massive gold and silver plate of the family
on their shoulders, and deposited it at the feet of their master.
The spoons were then solemnly counted by the steward, and the