But the "Cawthorne" was exclusive, and for that reason, principally,
Miss Dana had chosen it as her city domicile. Tenants were not
introduced to each other, and one could live a year within its walls
without being obliged to say good morning to any one, with the
possible exceptions of the housekeeper, or the elevator man, but that
was not compulsory, but depended upon the tenant's initiative.
Every hotel has an "out"; at the "Cawthorne" it was an "in." The "in"
was Mr. Lorenzo Cass, the clerk and general _factotum_. His besetting
sin was inordinate curiosity, but it was this oftentime disagreeable
quality which particularly commended him to the ex-Rev. Arthur
Borrowscale, the owner of the "Cawthorne."
Mr. Borrowscale had not given up the ministry on account of advanced
age, for he was only forty; nor on account of physical infirmity, for
he was a rugged specimen of manhood and enjoyed the best of health.
His critics, and all successful men have them, declared that he had
forsaken the service of God for that of Mammon. While officiating, he
had received a large salary. Being a bachelor, he had lived
economically and invested his savings in real estate. He was the
owner of six tenement houses--models of their kind, and the
"Cawthorne." Before leaving college, he had loved a young girl named
Edith Cawthorne. She had died, and at her grave he had parted with
her,--and love of women, but, that sentiment was not wholly dead
within him, the name of his hotel attested.
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