ct he will return to-day or
to-morrow--probably to-night," answered Mr. McKim, fixing his eyes upon
the open letter before him.

"Have you been acquainted with Mr. Loraine long?" I ventured to ask.

"Thirty years," replied he, glancing at me with a smile, as though the
acquaintance was a pleasant thing to contemplate. "He has been my
partner for twenty."

"Can you tell me, sir, whether he ever had a brother by the name of
Austin Loraine," I added, emboldened by his smile.

"He had; I knew Austin very well. He died some eight or ten years ago,"
said Mr. McKim, now so much interested in my questions that he threw
down the letter, and gave his attention wholly to me.

"I am very glad to learn this, and I am sorry Mr. Loraine is not at
home."

"Can I do anything for you?" he asked.

"No, sir; thank you; I think not. Mr. Loraine's niece is in the city,
and wishes to see him very much," I added.

"Why don't she go to his house? His family are at home."

"Kate is with some friends, and I think she would rather wait till her
uncle returns, as he is coming so soon. I will call again to-morrow."

"Mr. Loraine lives in Madison Place;" and he gave me the number, which
I wrote down on a paper, and told Mr. McKim where Kate was staying.

When I went out of the store I looked again for Tom Thornton. He must
have come to the city by this time, and I was rather surprised to find
he was not already on my track. I did not see him, but I afterwards
found out, to my sorrow, that his eye was upon me from the moment I went
into the store of McKim & Loraine. I hastened back to the hotel, and
informed Kate that I had found her uncle, but he was not at home. She
was so well cared for by Mrs. Macombe that she was in no haste to leave
her.

After dinner we all took a walk on the Battery and up Broadway, to see
the sights. When we returned, at five o'clock, we found a carriage
waiting to convey Kate and me to Mr. Loraine's house in Madison Place.

CHAPTER XIX.

IN WHICH ERNEST STARTS FOR MADISON PLACE WITH KATE.

I COULD not exactly understand how Mr. Loraine, being in Baltimore, or
on the way to New York, had sent a carriage for his niece. It was
possible that Kate's uncle had returned sooner than he had been
expected, or that Mr. McKim had seen his partner's family, and they had
sent for Kate. It did not occur to me that there was anything wrong; but
I desired to see Mr. Loraine, and tell him her story before his niece