.

MISS PENELOPE MORSE.
It was already a little past the customary luncheon hour at the Carlton, and the restaurant was well filled.

The orchestra had played their first selection, and the stream of incoming guests had begun to slacken.

A young lady who had been sitting in the palm court for at least half an hour rose to her feet, and, glancing casually at her watch, made her way into the hotel.

She entered the office and addressed the chief reception clerk.
"Can you tell me," she asked, "if Mr.Hamilton Fynes is staying here?
He should have arrived by the Lusitania last night or early this morning." It is not the business of a hotel reception clerk to appear surprised at anything.