LETTER XVI. 171 



LETTER XVI. 



Stone Buildings, 



Temple. 

 DEAR C., 



If I write this my humble confession 

 in the meekest of spirits, let that suffice. I con- 

 fess that the Adirondacks are a fraud ; don't write 

 in reply that ' you told me so.' When you tore 

 yourself away from the fading frivolities of Sara- 

 toga, we all began to get uneasy and make ready 

 for flight. ' Shamus ' was the first to go. I 

 took him down to the station, and with him 

 endeavoured to persuade some one of a score of 

 railway officials to put a couple of portmanteaus 

 on the train. We had omitted some formality 

 in registering the baggage, so these worthies 

 stood at ease with folded arms and smiled at the 

 agonies of the passenger they were paid to assist. 

 My last glimpse of Shamus showed him standing 

 on the foot-board of his car, clutching the end of 

 a gigantic portmanteau with convulsive energy. 



