d have been
welcomed home with open arms. Pshaw! He might be a poor, weak fool, but,
thank God, they couldn't reproach him with that. Annie had been loyal to
him throughout. He'd stick to her through thick and thin.

As the train swept round the curve at 53d Street and started on its
long, straight run up the West Side, his mind reverted to Robert
Underwood. He had seen his old associate only once since leaving
college. He ran across him one day on Fifth Avenue. Underwood was coming
out of a curio shop. He explained hurriedly that he had left Yale and
when asked about his future plans talked vaguely of going in for art.
His manner was frigid and nervous--the attitude of the man who fears he
may be approached for a small loan. He was evidently well aware of the
change in his old associate's fortunes and having squeezed all he could
out of him, had no further use for him. It was only when he had
disappeared that Howard suddenly remembered a loan of $250 which
Underwood had never repaid. Some time later Howard learned that he
occupied apartments at the exclusive and expensive Astruria where he
was living in great style. He went there determined to see him and
demand his money, but the card always came back "not at home."

Underwood had always been a mystery to Howard. He knew him to be an
inveterate gambler and a man entirely without principle. No one knew who
his family were or where he came from. His source of income, too, was
always a puzzle. At college he was always hard up, borrowing right and
left and forgetting to pay, yet he always succeeded in living on the fat
of the land. His apartments in the Astruria cost a small fortune; he
dressed well, drove a smart turnout and entertained lavishly. He was not
identified with any particular business or profession. On leaving
college he became interested in art. He frequented the important art
sales and soon got his name in the newspapers as an authority on art
matters. His apartment was literally a museum of European and Oriental
art. On all sides were paintings by old masters, beautiful rugs,
priceless tapestries, rare ceramics, enamels, statuary, antique
furniture, bronzes, etc. He passed for a man of wealth, and mothers with
marriageable daughters, considering him an eligible young bachelor,
hastened to invite him to their homes, none of them conscious of the
danger of letting the wolf slip into the lambs' fold.

What a strange power of fascination, mused Howard as the