of the estate shall merely be required to assume this burden to
himself."

"I understand you," said the Man of Intelligence, putting his pen
behind his ear. "I fear that no bargain can be negotiated on these
conditions. Very probably the next possessor may acquire the estate
with a similar encumbrance, but it will be of his own contracting,
and will not lighten your burden in the least."

"And am I to live on," fiercely exclaimed the stranger, "with the
dirt of these accursed acres and the granite of this infernal
mansion crushing down my soul? How, if I should turn the edifice
into an almshouse or a hospital, or tear it down and build a
church?"

"You can at least make the experiment," said the Intelligencer; "but
the whole matter is one which you must settle for yourself."

The man of deplorable success withdrew, and got into his coach,
which rattled off lightly over the wooden pavements, though laden
with the weight of much land, a stately house, and ponderous heaps
of gold, all compressed into an evil conscience.

There now appeared many applicants for places; among the most
noteworthy of whom was a small, smoke-dried figure, who gave himself
out to be one of the bad spirits that had waited upon Dr. Faustus in
his laboratory. He pretended to show a certificate of character,
which, he averred, had been given him by that famous necromancer,
and countersigned by several masters whom he had subsequently
served.