"DEAR SIR:--(so it commenced) You asked me to write you if anything happened. I think you will like to know that your nephew, Gilbert Grey, if he is your nephew, which I doubt, has just left here for St. Louis. I suppose, from what I can learn, that he is in search of you. I don't think he has any idea where you really live. He has not learned from me, for I hate him, and I won't tell him anything he wants to know. I didn't know but you might happen to be in St. Louis, so I write to put you on your guard. I hope you will write to me, so that I may know this letter went straight. "Yours, respectfully, "MAURICE WALTON." "He wants me to write to him, inclosing ten dollars," thought James Grey. "Well, he shall not be disappointed. His information is worth that. So my young nephew is on the trail is he? He really thinks he is a match for me. Well, well, we shall see. He mustn't push his inquiries too far, or he may find me dangerous," and Mr. Grey's face assumed a dark and threatening look. "However, he is not likely to find me in this out-of-the-way place." Mr. Grey went into his library, and penned a short letter to Maurice Walton, commending him for his watchfulness, and inclosing a ten-dollar greenback. He had scarcely finished the letter when Pompey entered, and said: "Scuse me, massa, but there's a young gemman below that axes to see you." "A young gentleman!" repeated Mr. Grey. "Can it be my nephew?" flashed through his mind with sudden suspicion. "Bring him up, Pompey," he said, aloud. CHAPTER XXVIII. THE GUEST OF HIS ENEMY. While Pompey was gone to seek Gilbert and invite him to the library, James Grey gave the time to rapid reflection. He saw that our hero was a determined and dangerous opponent. He had not credited him with such courage and perseverance. He thought that, being a mere boy, he would be easily intimidated--that opposition and difficulty would daunt him. But he had hardly reached home, and his nephew was already on his track. "How could he have found out my residence?" thought he. "Maurice Walton wouldn't tell him. He must be sharper than I supposed." When intimidation and force fail, a good general has recourse to strategy. James Grey was a man of expedients, and he rapidly decided upon a change of base. When, therefore, Gilbert entered the library, expecting an angry reception, he was astonished by seeing his uncle rise from his chair and advance to meet him with hand outstretched. "Good-morning," he said, smiling. "How did you find your way here?" "I accidentally learned where you lived, Mr. Grey." "Precisely so. I was quite sure I had not mentioned my address to you." "No, sir, you did not." "It was an oversight on my part. Did you have a pleasant journey from Cincinnati?" "Quite pleasant, sir." "Are you traveling on business?" "On business with you, sir. That is all."