is sledge-hammer and was about to resume work when he
happened to look up the Avenue. There she was at last, close at hand,
coming toward him. Involuntarily, he stepped back, and the heavy hammer
fell from his nerveless grasp.

Grace went by, dainty and _chic_, the cynosure of every eye on the
Avenue. Men turned after her as she passed. Women stopped and pointed.
But, unconscious of, or indifferent to, the admiration she excited, Miss
Harmon continued on her way home.

Armitage gazed after her, as if petrified. His first impulse was to cry
out, to run after her, to attract her attention. He stumbled forward and
then stopped. What right had he to accost her? She might resent it as an
unwarrantable impertinence. It would humiliate and embarrass her to be
addressed amid that fashionable throng by a common workman. It was
enough that he had seen her--from a distance. That was all the happiness
he could reasonably expect. By the time he had reasoned with himself,
Grace was out of sight.

That evening when Armitage reached his lodgings he found awaiting him a
letter bearing the Boston postmark. Opening it, he saw it contained
another letter addressed to him and forwarded in care of the Boston
office of the owners of the _Saucy Polly_. Tearing open the envelope, he
read as follows:

"-- FIFTH AVENUE.

"DEAR MR. ARMITAGE: If you happen to be in New York, I should be
glad if you could find it convenient to call at the above address.

"Yours faithfully,
"JOHN HARMON."

CHAPTER XVIII.

The town house of John Harmon was conspicuous for its size and beauty
even on an avenue famous for its magnificent residences. With a frontage
of a hundred feet facing Central Park, it was constructed entirely of
French gray stone, Renaissance style, with turrets, gables, oriel
windows, elaborately carved stone loggias and balconies, tiled roofs and
all the other architectural ornamentation of that picturesque period.
Set back some distance from the road, it was surrounded by tastefully
laid-out grounds, with a handsome portico decorated by elaborate stone
carvings, and a driveway bordered with flower-beds, entrance to which
was made through ornamental gates of massive bronze.

Beautiful from the exterior as was this railroad king's home, within it
was furnished with the lavish grandeur of a royal palace. All Europe had
been ransacked to fill it with beautiful and costly art treasures. At
the back of the large ent