The owner
lives abroad, and while it is not in the market I am advised that
the young man would be glad to get rid of it. He is said to be
living a fast life in Paris, and while he was left a great fortune
he would probably be glad to get the ready money. I know of no
finer home in New York for you to settle down in after your
honeymoon.

"Thanking you again for your constant thoughtfulness and hoping
that you will now banish every doubt from your mind, I remain,

"Faithfully yours,
"ELVIRA BURTON."

The smile with which Mrs. Burton sealed this letter and delivered it
to her maid was more than a smile of triumph. It was a positively
fiendish smile of victory.

CHAPTER XI.

GAINSBOROUGH "BLUE BOY."

Having discounted the romantic element of his thrilling rescue at
Narragansett Pier, Travers Gladwin fell into a moody silence. The more
volatile Barnes felt the influence and strove to fight it off. While
he, too, had been set upon the trail of romance at the behest of his
father, he felt it was too early to indulge in pessimistic reveries,
so he groped for another subject with which to revive the interest of
his friend.

"I say, Travers," he led off, rising from his chair and indicating the
walls with a sweep of his hand, "as I remarked before, you've got a
wonderful collection here."

"Yes," assented the young millionaire without animation, "but, as _I_
said before, I soon got tired of it. The pastime of collecting
pictures became a burden, and I was glad to get abroad and forget
it."

"Well," said Barnes, "I guess the only thing for you to do is to go to
work at something."

"I know it," grumbled Gladwin, "but what's the incentive? I don't want
any more money--what I have now is the biggest sort of a nuisance.
Just see the trouble I'm in for with my lawyer and that man Watkins,
though to tell you the truth I am beginning to enjoy the novelty of
that."

The young man got up and assumed a more lively expression.

"Do you know, Whitney," he ran on, "this travelling incognito isn't
half bad. They are really getting suspicious of me at the Ritz."

"But surely some one there ought to know you."

"Not a soul! It was opened while I was abroad. You know I registered
as Thomas Smith and I even took a chance and went down into the grill
room for lunch. And there, Whitney," cried Gladwin with an exp