IS ENDORSED BY THE LEADING FINANCIERS
AND SCIENTISTS OF THE WORLD
AND BY
HON. J. HARVEY BOWDITCH &
DEACON ENOCH CHICK
LANESPORT

There were some hand-bills blowing around on the bridge, and I
picked up one or two of them. They were like the posters,--about
the Metropolitan Marine Gold Company, and the excursions to
Rogers's Island. At the end of the causeway, where the road went
up a little grade, there was a big sign, painted on white cloth,
and fixed to some boards:

THE METROPOLITAN MARINE GOLD COMPANY (Limited)

The road wound up the slope, and I followed it and turned the
corner. There was a great house, three stories high and as square
as a child's block. If it had ever been painted, the paint had
worn off, and the wood was almost black. For a hundred years or
more the wind and rain and snow had beaten against it,--storms
from the ocean, storms from the land, winds from all quarters, for
except at one corner it was unprotected by trees. It stood on high
ground, and faced the open water of the bay. Grass had grown rank
all around, and there was no sign of anybody either indoors or
out. There was an enormous barn behind the house, as well as
woodsheds, and hen-houses.

I stood still for a few moments, and then walked up the weed-grown
path, and hammered on the front door with the brass knocker. The