T HE more Oliver thought about it, the stranger it seemed to him that the letter intended for him should have been lost. In spite of Mr. Kenyon\'s plausible explanations, he felt that it had been suppressed. But why? He could conceive of no motive for the deed. He had no secret correspondent, nor had he any secret to conceal. He was quite at sea in his conjectures.

He could not help showing by his manner the suspicion he entertained. Mr. Kenyon did not appear to notice it, but it was far from escaping his attention. He knew something about character reading, and he saw that Oliver was very determined, and, once aroused, would make trouble.

"There is only one way," he muttered, as he furtively regarded the grave look on the boyish face of his step-son. "There is only one way, and I must try it!"

He felt that there was daily peril. Any day another letter might arrive at the post-office, and it might fall this time into Oliver\'s hands. True, he had received a letter from Dr. Fox, in which he expressed his inability to discover how the letter had been mailed without his knowledge, but assuring Mr. Kenyon that it should not happen again.

"I shall not hereafter allow your wife the use of writing materials," he said. "This will remove all danger."

Still Mr. Kenyon felt unsettled and ill at ease. In spite of all Dr. Fox\'s precautions, a letter might be written, and this would be most disastrous to him.

"Oliver," said Mr. Kenyon one evening, "I have to go to New York on business to-morrow; would you like to go with me?"

"Yes, sir," said Oliver promptly.

To a country boy, who had not been in New York more than half a dozen times in the course of his life, such a trip promised great enjoyment, even where the company was uncongenial.

"We shall probably remain over night," said his step-father. "I don\'t think I can get through all my business in one day."

"All the better, sir," said Oliver. "I never stopped over night in New York."

"Then you will enjoy it. If I have a chance I will take you to the theatre."

"Thank you, sir," said Oliver, forgetting for the moment his prejudice against his step-father. "Is Roland going?" he asked.

"No," answered Mr. Kenyon.

Oliver stared in surprise. It seemed strange to him that he should be offered an e............