CHAPTER X.
Polyeuka Hall The house which they saw certainly surprised them much, and seemed to justify the assertion just before made to them that Mr.Crinkett was a swell.

It was marvellous that any man should have contemplated the building of such a mansion in a place so little attractive, with so many houses within view.

The house and little attempted garden, together with the stables and appurtenances, may have occupied half an acre.

All around it were those hideous signs of mining operations which make a country rich in metals look as though the devil had walked over it, dragging behind him an enormous rake.

There was not a blade of grass to be seen.