me, had gone to a sanitarium in Philadelphia
to be treated for a sudden and overwhelming attack of nervous hysteria.

It was all too true, that tale. Henriette's final coup had been
successful, and she had at one stroke stolen her landlord, her
landlady's husband, and her neighbor's fiance. To console me she left
this note, written on board of the steamer and mailed by the pilot.

ON BOARD THE HYDROSTATIC.
OFF SANDY HOOK, _September 10, 1904_.

DEAR BUNNY,--I couldn't help it. The minute I saw him I felt that
I must have him. It's the most successful haul yet and is the
last adventure I shall ever have. He's worth forty million
dollars. I'm sorry for you, dear, but it's all in the line of
business. To console you I have left in your name all that we have
won together in our partnership at Newport--fourteen millions five
hundred and sixty-three thousand nine hundred and seventy-seven
dollars in cash, and about three million dollars in jewels, which
you must negotiate carefully. Good-bye, dear Bunny, I shall never
forget you, and I wish you all the happiness in the world. With
the funds now in your possession why not retire--go home to
England and renew your studies for the ministry? The Church is a
noble profession.

Sincerely yours,
HENRIETTE VAN RAFFLES-SCRAPPE.

I have gathered together these meagre possessions--rich in bullion
value, but meagre in happiness, considering all that might have been,
and to-morrow I sail for London. There, following Henriette's advice, I
shall enter the study of the ministry, and when I am ordained shall buy
a living somewhere and settle down to the serene existence of the
preacher, the pastor of a flock of human sheep.

[Illustration: "MY MISERY IS DEEP BUT I AM BUOYED UP BY ONE GREAT HOPE"]

My misery is deep but I am buoyed up by one great hope in every thought.

These Newport marriages are so seldom for life that I yet have hope that
some day Henriette will be restored to me without its necessarily
involving any serious accident to her husband the colonel.

***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MRS. RAFFLES***

******* This file should be named 30853.txt or 30853.zip *******

This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/0/8/5/30853

Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
will be renamed.

Creating the wor