recommended him and see whether this was the first time that Wellgood
had repaid good treatment with bad. Running through the papers with
which his file was now full, he found that the one he sought was not
there. This roused him in good earnest, for he was certain that he had
not removed it himself and there was no one else who had the right to do
so. He suspected the culprit,--a young lad who occasionally had access
to his desk. But this boy was no longer in the office. He had dismissed
him for some petty fault the previous week, and it took him several days
to find him again. Meantime his anger grew and when he finally came face
to face with the lad, he accused him of the suspected trick with so much
vehemence that the inevitable happened, and the boy confessed. This is
what he acknowledged. He had taken the reference off the file, but only
to give it to Wellgood himself, who had offered him money for it. When
asked how much money, the boy admitted that the sum was ten dollars,--an
extraordinary amount from a poor man for so simple a service, if the man
merely wished to secure his reference for future use; so extraordinary
that Mr. Jones grew more and more pertinent in his inquiries, eliciting
finally what he surely could not have hoped for in the beginning,--the
exact address of the party referred to in the paper he had stolen, and
which, for some reason, the boy remembered. It was an uptown address,
and, as soon as the caterer could leave his business, he took the
elevated and proceeded to the specified street and number.

"Miss Van Arsdale, a surprise awaited him, and awaited us when he told
the result of his search. The name attached to the recommendation had
been--'Hiram Sears, Steward.' He did not know of any such man--perhaps
you do--but when he reached the house from which the recommendation was
dated, he saw that it was one of the great houses of New York, though
he could not at the instant remember who lived there. But he soon found
out. The first passer-by told him. Miss Van Arsdale, perhaps you can do
the same. The number was--Eighty-sixth Street."

"--!" I repeated, quite aghast. "Why, Mr. Fairbrother himself! The
husband of--"

"Exactly so, and Hiram Sears, whose name you may have heard mentioned at
the inquest, though for a very good reason he was not there in person,
is his steward and general factotum."

"Oh! and it was he who recommended Wellgood?"

"Yes."

"And did Mr. Jones see him?"

"No.