d to himself, "and I am well provided with money
for the present. Now I must make up for lost time, and try to enjoy
myself a little. I was nearly moped to death in that dull country
village, with no better company than a young snob. Now to see life!"

First of all, Congreve installed himself at a fashionable boarding house
uptown. Then he purchased a seat for the evening's performance at
Wallack's Theater, and then sought out some of his old companions in
haunts where he knew they were likely to be found. He had a few games of
cards, in which his luck varied. He rose from the card table a loser in
the sum of twenty-five dollars.

"That is unlucky," thought Congreve. "However, I've got two hundred
dollars left. I must be more cautious, or my money won't last long."

Still, he felt in tolerably good spirits when he went to the theater,
and enjoyed the performance about as much as if his pleasures were
bought with money honestly earned.

It so happened that the clerk at the first banking house who had refused
to purchase the bonds sat two rows behind him, and easily recognized his
customer of the morning.

"I suspect Mr. Baker, alias Congreve, has disposed of his bonds," he
thought to himself. "I am really curious to know whether he had any
right to sell them."

From time to time this thought came back to the clerk, till he formed a
resolution quietly to follow Congreve, after the close of the
performance, and ascertain where he lived.

Congreve, seated in front, was not aware of the presence of the clerk,
or he might have taken measures to defeat his design.

When James Congreve left the theater, he was at first inclined to stop
at Delmonico's on the way uptown, and indulge in a little refreshment;
but he felt somewhat fatigued with his day's travel, and, after a
moment's indecision, concluded instead to return at once to his boarding
place.

"He lives in a nice house," said the clerk to himself. "Let me notice
the number. I may find it desirable to know where to find him."

To anticipate matters a little, word came to New York in the afternoon
of the next day that two bonds, the numbers of which were given, had
been stolen from Colonel Ross, and search was made for the young man who
was suspected of having negotiated them. The clerk, who, previous to
returning the bonds to Congreve, had taken down the numbers, at once
identified them as the ones referred to, and gave information to the
police.

The result