ght
his career to so pitiful a close. The greatest mystery hung about the fact
of the miniature portrait; no clue of the faintest kind could be obtained
as to how it came into his possession, but the Doctor had identified it,
beyond the least shadow of a doubt, as the one stolen from Blackrock
House.

It was necessary for the Doctor to remain in town for some days, and Mrs.
Pemberton would not hear of his making a home anywhere else than at Rose
Cottage. To this he was nothing loth; and to Howard, the presence of his
old friend and master in the house, was a source of unqualified
satisfaction.

Many a time they speculated about the strange secrets which lay locked up
in that little miniature, and wished they could devise some means to
extort them.

"But we must watch and wait," said the Doctor. "I seem to feel satisfied
that we shall clear up the mystery some day."

The "some day" was very far ahead. Meantime, a verdict of "accidental
death" was returned upon Williams. The miniature was formally made over to
the Doctor, and when he had completed all the inquiries which could be
instituted, and was nearly worn out with visits to and from the police and
inquisitors generally, he bade adieu to the little circle of friends, and
once more the veil, of which only a corner had been lifted, fell over the
circumstances.

CHAPTER VIII.

LIKE SEEKS LIKE.

Howard Pemberton had thought often of his future, even in early school-boy
days, and many a time he and Martin had talked together about the great
battle of life, and how to fight it.

They both were indebted to dear old Doctor Brier for one thing; he had
always insisted that the basis of all achievement worth achieving was in
character, and that the basis of character must be a disciplined and
educated sense of honor; the utter despising from the heart of everything
mean.

Howard was certainly one of those of whom it might be predicted, that he
was sure to succeed. And he accepted the responsibilities of success, and
determined to make the best he could of his life. From his first start, he
had thrown his heart into his business, and common figures, and dull
routine, were to his mind invested with a power which could help him in
his pursuit,--not the mere pursuit of making money, but of being
something. Before a twelvemonth had passed, he had made himself master of
every detail in his business; at the end of his second year, he was so
invaluable that he was intr