r summers at Newport, as she had planned? Clearly, not on
that amount. No, her income would not suffice; she would be obliged to
draw on the principal until Carmen could be married off to some
millionaire, or until her own father died. Oh? if he would only
terminate his useless existence soon!

But, in lieu of that delayed desideratum, some expedient must be
devised at once. She thought of the Beaubien. That obscure, retiring
woman was annually making her millions. A tip now and then from her, a
word of advice regarding the market, and her own limited income would
expand accordingly. She had not seen the Beaubien since becoming a
member of Holy Saints. But on that day, and again, two months later,
when the splendid altar to the late lamented and patriotic citizen,
the Honorable James Hawley-Crowles, was dedicated, she had marked the
woman, heavily veiled, sitting alone in the rear of the great church.
What had brought her there? she wondered. She had shuddered as she
thought the tall, black-robed figure typified an ominous shadow
falling athwart her own foolish existence.

But there was no doubt of Carmen's hold on the strange, tarnished
woman. And so, smothering her doubts and pocketing her pride, she
again sought the Beaubien, ostensibly in regard to Carmen's
forthcoming _debut_; and then, very adroitly and off-handedly, she
brought up the subject of investments, alleging that the added burden
of the young girl now rendered it necessary to increase the rate of
interest which her securities were yielding.

The Beaubien proved herself the soul of candor and generosity. Not
only did she point out to Mrs. Hawley-Crowles how her modest income
might be quadrupled, but she even offered, in such a way as to make it
utterly impossible for that lady to take offense, to lend her whatever
amount she might need, at any time, to further Carmen's social
conquest. And during the conversation she announced that she herself
was acting on a suggestion dropped by the great financier, Ames, and
was buying certain stocks now being offered by a coming power in world
finance, Mr. Philip O. Ketchim.

Why, to be sure, Mrs. Hawley-Crowles had heard of this man! Was he not
promoting a company in which her sister's husband, and the girl
herself, were interested? And if such investments were good enough for
a magnate of Ames's standing, they certainly were good enough for her.
She would see Mr. Ketchim at once. Indeed, why had she not thought