And then there wuz grottoes and fountains lit by electric lights, and groups of statuary illustratin’ famous historical seens.

And right here, while the past wuz a-pressin’ so clost to us, that we wuz almost took back there in the body—­our minds wuz there, way, way back—­

When sudden, swift, wuz we brung back from the past—­brung back to conscientousness, as it were, by two forms and two voices.

Here of all places in the world, in the heart of a Moorish palace, did my eyes fall upon the faces of Bizer Dagget, and Selinda, his wife.

And I sez, as my eyes fell from the contemplation of art-decked freeze and fretted archways onto the old familar freckled face, and green alpaca dress, and Bizer’s meek sandy whiskers, and pepper-and-salt suit—­

Sez I, “Whyee, Selinda and Bizer, is it you?  How do you do?  When did you git here?  You didn’t lay out to come when we started.”

“No,” sez Selinda; “you know jest how it wuz, you know we had his folks to take care on, and Father Dagget wuz so helpless that we had to lift him round.  And we shouldn’t been able to git here at all, only Father had a severe fall out o’ bed one night in the dead of night.  He wuz all alone, and skairt—­so we spoze—­and that fall took him off on the second day.

“And as quick as we could git ready we sot off here.

[Illustration:  “Whyee!  Selinda and Bizer, is it you?”]

“It didn’t seem really right, but you know Father hain’t known anything for upwards of two years, and you know jest how bad we did want to come here.

“But I don’t know as it wuz exactly right to come off so soon after he fell.  I spoze it will make talk, I spoze his folks will talk, and the Jonesvillians.”

“But,” I sez, for I wanted to comfort her—­she’s a good creeter—­

Sez I, “Columbus had to wait before he sot out to discover us, till Grenada fell, and that made talk.”  Sez I, “Probable Columbuses folks talked as much as Bizer’s folks will.  But,” sez I, “it wuz all for the best.

“And,” sez I, “your Father Dagget wuz a good creeter before he lost his mind.”

“Yes,” sez she, “but for upwards of two years he’s tried to put his pantaloons on over his head, and he’d put his arms in his boots every time if we’d let him, thinkin’ it wuz a vest.”

“Wall,” sez I, “you’ve did well by him, Selinda, and now if I wuz in your and Bizer’s place, I’d try to look round all I could and git my mind off, and see everything I could see.”

Sez she with a deep sithe, “There hain’t no trouble about that; there is enough to see.”  Sez she, “It seems as though I had seen enough every five minutes sence I come, if it wuz spread out even and smooth, to cover a hull lifetime, and cover it thick, too,” sez she.

“And,” sez I, warmly and candidly, “Heaven knows that is true—­true as gospel.”

And then Selinda and Bizer, and Josiah and me walked on into other parts of the buildin’, and there we see a small-lookin’ model of the Santa Maria, the Admiral’s flag-ship, manned by men with the same clothes on as wuz wore by Columbuses mariners.  That filled me with large emotions, and Selinda felt it too.