his is true, the finding of this
colossal stone means a windfall for the Yankee stockholders.

The Traynor home, No. ---- Gramercy Park, was one of those dignified,
old-fashioned residences that still remain in New York to remind our
vulgar, ostentatious _nouveaux riches_ of the days when culture and
refinement counted for something more than mere wealth. Overlooking
the railed-in square with its green lawns, pretty winding paths and
well-dressed children romping at play, it had a high stoop which opened
into a wide hall, decorated with obsolete weapons and trophies of the
hunt. On the right were rich tapestries, masking the folding doors of
a spacious drawing-room, richly decorated and furnished in Louis XIV.
period. Beyond this, to the rear of the house which had been built out
to the extreme end of the lot, was the splendidly appointed dining-room
with its magnificent fireplace of sculptured white marble, surmounted
by a striking portrait in oils by Carolus Duran of Mrs. Traynor--a
painting which had been one of the most successful pictures of the
previous year's salon.

In a clinging, white silk negligee gown, the gossamer folds of which
only partially veiled the outlines of a slender, graceful figure, Helen
sat at the breakfast table opposite her husband, toying languidly with
her knife and fork. It was nearly noon, long past the usual breakfast
time, and by every known gastronomical law her appetite should have
been on keen edge. But this morning she left everything untasted.
Even the delicious wheat cakes, which none better than Mammy, their
Southern cook, knew how to do to a point, did not tempt her. They had
been out to dinner the night before. Her head ached; she was nervous
and feverish. Always full of good spirits and laughter, ever the soul
and life of the house, it was unusual to find her in this mood, and if
her husband, now voraciously devouring the tempting array of ham and
eggs spread before him, had not been so absorbed in the news of the
day, he would have quickly noticed it, and guessed there was something
amiss.

Certainly the appearance of the dining-room was enough to upset the
nerves of anyone, especially a sensitive young woman who prided herself
on her housekeeping. All around was chaos and confusion. The usually
sedate, orderly dining-room was littered with trunks, grips, umbrellas
and canes enveloped in rugs--all the confusion incidental to a hurried
departure.

She took the