It was a long tramp, and he stopped so many times on the way to look up the cars that were marked “Fifth Avenue,” that he did not reach his destination till the middle of the afternoon. In spite of his gloomy state of mind, he could not help stopping to admire the squares and the wonderful buildings, and to gaze upon the vast throng of people that filled the streets. He was amazed at the hotel, which he had supposed was something like the tavern in Midhampton. It was a palace, compared with any thing he had ever seen before. As he had never hesitated to enter the tavern when he wished to do so, he did not fear to go into the hotel. He was bewildered by the grandeur and magnitude of the establishment. He paused at the office, and looked at the spruce clerks behind the counter. He wondered if it would be safe to speak to one of them; but he saw others do so, and he determined to make the attempt. The diamonds in their shirt-bosoms were very large; but they could not more than eat him. “Is there a man by the name of Mr. Caleb Klucker stopping here?” he ventured to ask. “Caleb Klucker,” repeated one of the clerks, turning to the other, and laughing. “That is what he said his name was; but another man told me it was Jeremy Diddler,” added Wade, fearing that he might have given the wrong name. “Jeremy Diddler! Oh, yes, he is always here!” exclaimed the clerk. But what was the man laughing at? Wade had said nothing funny, that he was aware of; and these clerks did not know that he had been gouged out of eighteen dollars. “Do you wish to see Mr. Diddler?” asked the clerk politely. “I do want to see him,” replied Wade decidedly. The clerk snapped a bell on the marble counter. “Show this young man to No. 942,” he added to the servant who answered it. Wade followed him, as told to do. CHAPTER XVI. AN UNEXPECTED MEETING. Wade followed the servant up the stairs; and this fellow seemed to be laughing too. What had got into them all? He had done nothing to make them laugh. The people in the hotel seemed to know Jeremy Diddler, but not Caleb Klucker. If the fellow was a rogue, as Wade believed he was by this time, very likely he had two names. Wade followed his conductor to the very top of the house; and it seemed to him he had never been so near heaven before. Then the man led him by devious winding ways, through long passages and halls, till he thought he had walked half a mile. “How much farther are you going?” asked Wade, unable to forget the laugh of the clerks and the servant, which seemed to have something to do with the distance he had travelled. “It isn’t more nor a mile furder,” replied the Irish waiter. “A mile!” exclaimed Wade, lost in wonder again at the immense size of the hotel. “It will take us all the rest of the day to get to the room.” “Faith, it will, and half of the night.” “How many stories high is this hotel?” “Only thirteen.” “Thirteen!” “Yes; and the last place I lived, the house was twenty-one.”