Linton's curiosity was naturally excited by the references in Luke's letter.
"Where can Luke be?" he asked. "I wish he were at liberty to tell."
Linton never dreamed, however, that his friend was two thousand miles away, in the wild West. It would have seemed to him utterly improbable.
He was folding up the letter as he was walking homeward, when he met Randolph Duncan.
"What's that, Linton?" he asked. "A love-letter?"
"Not much; I haven't got so far along. It is a letter from Luke Larkin."
"Oh!" sneered Randolph. "I congratulate you on your correspondent. Is he in New York?"
"The letter is postmarked in New York, but he is traveling."
"Traveling? Where is he traveling?"
"He doesn't say. This letter is forwarded by Mr. Reed."