As being immaterial to the present simple narrative, I will not dwell upon the perplexity incidental to the problem thus presented, further than to say that the ensuing fortnight was spent in a desperate search for a suitable location. At one time it seemed more than probable that the house would be entirely completed before I should have found a place to put it; and I fancy there could be nothing more embarrassing than to have an adult, able-bodied house on one’s hands, without so much as a, square foot of terra firma whereupon to place it. One might as well live in a balloon.
But, finally, the proper situation was discovered, and after the title had been searched — whether for smuggled goods or concealed weapons I have not the most remote idea — I found myself in a position to become proprietor of three acres of land, of which, to my thinking, the most dazzling attraction was the fact that the nearest neighbour was a mile
