Some Cranks and their Crotchets 449 



and for some time after that visit we half expected 

 to hear that one or more of the household had seen 

 him. In this, however, we were disappointed. I 

 suspect that its mental soil may, after all, have 

 been too barren for such a growth. 



Seven years elapsed before my second and last 

 visit to these worthy people. In the mean time a 

 large addition had been made to the principal 

 house, nearly doubling its capacity ; and I was told 

 that the community had been legally incorporated 

 under the Hebrew title of Adoni-shomo, or &quot; The 

 Lord is there.&quot; One would naturally infer that 

 the membership had increased, but the true expla 

 nation was very different. On a Saturday after 

 noon in the summer of 1882, in company with 

 fifteen friends, I visited the community. Our re 

 ception this time was something more than polite ; 

 there was a noticeable warmth of welcome about 

 it. We were ushered into one of the newly built 

 rooms, a long chapel, with seats on either side 

 and a reading-desk at one end. All the women, 

 both hosts and guests, took their seats on one side, 

 all the men on the other. A whisper from my 

 neighbour informed me that the community was 

 reduced to twelve persons : thus the guests out 

 numbered the hosts. The high priest, Father Rich 

 ards, a venerable man of ruddy hue, with enormous 



