XXXIII. 11 deg. 30' 19" N. LAT. by 56 deg. 10' 19" W. LONG. 286 XXXIV. PLAINTON, MAINE 298 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE BURKE DETERMINED TO GET NEAR ENOUGH TO HAIL THE "DUNKERY BEACON" _Frontispiece_ THE GENTLEMAN RAISED HIS HAT AND ASKED IF MRS. CLIFF LIVED THERE 42 MRS. CLIFF'S INVITATION WAS DISCUSSED WITH LIVELY APPRECIATION 170 THERE, FASTENED AGAINST THE FORE-MAST, WAS A LARGE PIECE OF PAPER 194 WHEN SHIRLEY WENT ON DECK HE WAS MUCH PLEASED TO SEE THE "SUMMER SHELTER" 238 BANKER COULD NOT HOLD BACK 270 HE SEIZED IT AND RAISED IT TO HIS SHOULDER 290 WILLY SAT AND LOOKED AT HIM 312 MRS. CLIFF'S YACHT CHAPTER I ALONE WITH HER WEALTH On a beautiful September afternoon in a handsome room of one of the grand, up-town hotels in New York sat Mrs. Cliff, widow and millionaire. Widow of a village merchant, mistress of an unpretending house in the little town of Plainton, Maine, and, by strange vicissitudes of fortune, the possessor of great wealth, she was on her way from Paris to the scene of that quiet domestic life to which for nearly thirty years she had been accustomed. She was alone in the hotel; her friends, Captain Horn and his wife Edna, who had crossed the ocean with her, had stayed but a few days in New York and had left early that afternoon for Niagara, and she was here by herself in the hotel, waiting until the hour should arrive when she would start on a night train for her home. Her position was a peculiar one, altogether new to her. She was absolutely independent,--not only could she do what she pleased, but there was no one to tell her what it would be well for her to do, wise for her to do, or unwise. Everything she could possibly want was within her reach, and there was no reason why she should not have everything she wanted. For many months she had been possessed of enormous wealth, but never until this moment had she felt herself the absolute, untrammelled possessor of it. Until now Captain Horn, to whom she owed her gold, and the power it gave her, had been with her or had exercised an influence over her. Until the time had come when he could avow the possession of his vast treasures, it had been impossible for her to make known her share in them, and even after everything had been settled, and they had all come home together in the finest state-rooms of a great ocean liner, she had still felt dependent upon the counsels and judgment of her friends.