. Townsend's parents, as he originally hailed from New England.
He made inquiries about the young banker and concluded that he would be
a safe man with whom to deposit the money as trustee for the child, and
he did go out in his boat as a "blind" and sailed in her to New York,
where he disposed of her, having determined to let it be thought that he
was dead and thus escape his second-hand family--we use the term
second-hand family. The above is the gist of the narrative. What else
may concern our narrative will be recorded incidentally as Jack had
developed. As our readers know, Mr. Canfield was killed on the railroad
and never spoke a word, and owing to the fact that he was supposed to
have been drowned no inquiry was made concerning him, and thus for forty
years all memory of him had been lost until revived by our hero through
the incidents as we have narrated them.

Having finished the reading of the letter, Jack said:

"Well, sir, all is clear now."

"Yes, and it is wonderful how the facts have been developed."

"I have plain sailing now," said Jack.

"You will find this girl, Amalie Stevens?"

"I will, or her heir."

"There is some satisfaction, Mr. Wonderful, in starting out with a
perfect clue."

Jack laughed and said:

"My clue is not as clear as you may think, still I have something to
work on. I know the woman's name."

"The girl, you mean?"

"No, the woman; you forget that forty years have passed."

"You are right, I did forget. Well, how time flies! Now that the mystery
is solved, it seems to me as though the incident had occurred only a few
months ago."

On the day following the incidents recorded Jack visited New Jersey, the
land which had been so fruitful in furnishing him incidents tending to a
solution of the mystery. While on the train he meditated over his great
success and felt proud over his wonderful "shadow"--for indeed it had
proved a wonderful "shadow." He appreciated, however, that almost as
difficult a task lay before him. The letter had said the child had been
placed with strangers, and singularly the old man had failed to state
with whom or where he left the child. He had evidently intended to do
so, but through some oversight had omitted giving the information. Jack
did have one advantage--he knew the real name and possibly the assumed
name of the woman he was searching for, but he did not know what her
present name might be in case she was living. He was working entirely on