Tolman Bike was privately buried Sunday from the Chamberlain mansion, while the girl who was to have been his bride, lay unconscious in a darkened room upstairs. Mrs. Van Brunt, as an old and intimate friend of Mrs. Chamberlain, went to the funeral. Penelope went with her aunt, her heart divided in sympathy for the dead man, the dead girl, and the stricken daughter of the Chamberlain household. If Tolman Bike had lived, Penelope would have hated him for his crime, but because he had strength to die, and when she pictured his lonely end, she felt sorry for his wretched fate. Sunday evening they visited Maggie Williams, now Mrs. Martin Shanks, and Penelope gently told them the story of the Mystery of Central Park, omitting as much as possible that would pain the sister. Rough, but kindly Martin Shanks comforted his bride. Dido Morgan mingled her tears with Maggie’s, but she was shy and awkward, having little to say in the presence of Penelope Howard, though Penelope did her utmost to be cordial and considerate. The warm, frank feeling that had heretofore existed between Dido and Dick was gone. Dick endeavored to be friendly and pleasant, but Dido maintained a stiff silence that made him have a sense of relief when he and Penelope finally took their departure. “Ah, Penelope, it’s true, as Tolman Bike said, happiness is not so plentiful in life that we can afford to let it slip by when near our grasp,” Richard said, sadly, as he and Penelope drove homeward. Penelope merely sighed in response. “I did not solve the mystery as you expected and wished,” he continued, taking her hand in his, “still I object to being cheated of my happiness. When are you going to marry me?” “Oh!” Penelope tried to say in playful surprise, but her hand trembled. “This is the tenth. I will give you until the twenty-first to make what little preparations you need for the wedding,” Richard said, masterfully, yet tenderly. “Oh! If you talk that way I suppose I must meekly obey,” Penelope said, as, with a sigh of content, she allowed Dick to take her in his arms. THE END. G. W. DILLINGHAM, Successor. 1889. 1889. [Illustration: G. W. CARLETON & CO.] NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS, RECENTLY ISSUED BY G. W. DILLINGHAM, Publisher, Successor to G. W. CARLETON & CO., 33 West 23d Street, New York. The Publisher on receipt of price, will send any book on this Catalogue by mail, _postage free_. All handsomely bound in cloth, with gilt backs suitable for libraries. Mary J. Holmes’ Novels.