the "Woman"--perhaps to buy her back again--and we were
strongly inclined to take advantage of it. Our patron's
residence was one of the largest and most elegant on Fifth
Avenue. It was a matter of common fame that his
entertainments were the cause of more envy and heartburning
in the fashionable sisterhood than any other events of the
season. I had some doubt about the propriety of taking Rayel
to such a place, unaccustomed as he was to the refinements
and conventionalities of fashionable life. However, he had
set his heart upon going--he was so eager to see his beloved
picture--and I did not oppose his wish. In writing our
acceptance of the invitation I corrected Mr. Paddington's
error regarding our name, and explained the rechristening we
had received in the public prints.



CHAPTER VIII


On the day of our appointment for dinner at Mr. Paddington's
the newspapers were filled with accounts of a sensational
bank robbery, which had occurred in Wall Street the night
before. Between midnight and one o'clock in the morning,
thieves had entered the Metropolitan Bank, overpowered the
watchman, broken into the vaults and stolen half a million
dollars in currency without leaving any clew behind them of
the slightest value to the police. The subject interested
Rayel intensely, and at our breakfast that morning we talked
of little else.