g-water of
life has grown stale to her. It is corked up in bottles like the water
sold in towns where the drinking-supply is low. It has ceased to be
palatable to her.

My interpretation is, that there is no man on her horizon just now
except Harry Goward, and I won't do her the injustice to believe that
she wouldn't be thankful to be rid of him just for her own sake; to say
nothing of Peggy's.

Aunt Elizabeth, I repeat, needs a new man. If Dr. Denbigh is willing to
fill this role for a few days (of course I must be perfectly frank with
him about it) the effect upon Harry Goward will be instantaneous. His
disillusion will be complete; his return to Peggy in a state of abject
humiliation will be assured. I mean, assuming that the fellow is capable
of manly feeling, and that Peggy has aroused it. That, of course,
remains for me to find out.

How I am to fish Harry Goward out of the ocean of New York city doesn't
trouble me in the least. Given Aunt Elizabeth, he will complete the
equation. If Mrs. Chataway should fail me--But I won't suppose that Mrs.
Chataway will fail. I must be sure and explain to Tom about Dr. Denbigh.

"The Sphinx," New York, 10 P.M.--I arrived--that is to say, we arrived
in this town at ten minutes past one o'clock, almost ten hours ago. Dr.
Denbigh has gone somewhere--and that reminds me that I forgot to ask him
where. I never thought of it until this minute, but it has just occurred
to me that it may be quite as well from an ignorant point of view that
"The Sphinx" excludes mere man from its portals.

He was good to me on the train, very good indeed. I can't deny that he
flushed a little when I told him frankly what I wanted of him. At first
I thought that he was going to be angry. Then I saw the corners of his
mustache twitch. Then our sense of humor got the better of us, and then
I laughed, and then he laughed, and I felt that the crisis was passed.
I explained to him while we were in the Pullman car, as well as I could
without being overheard by a fat lady with three chins, and a girl with
a permit for a pet poodle, what it was that I wanted of him. I related
the story of Peggy's misfortune--in confidence, of course; and explained
the part he was expected to play--confidentially, of course; in fact, I
laid my plot before him from beginning to end.

"If the boy doesn't love her, you see," I suggested, "the sooner we
know it the better. She must break it off, if her heart is broken in the