"Don't stand and cry; press forward and remove the
difficulty."--Dickens.




CHAPTER I.

THE TELEGRAM.


'BREVOORT HOUSE, NEW YORK, Oct. 6th, 18--.

'_To Mr. Frank Tracy, Tracy Park, Shannondale_.

'I arrived in the Scotia this morning, and shall take the train for
Shannondale at 3 p.m. Send someone to the station to meet us.

'ARTHUR TRACEY.'

This was the telegram which the clerk in the Shannonville office wrote
out one October morning, and despatched to the Hon. Frank Tracy, of
Tracy Park, in the quiet town of Shannondale, where our story opens.