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The Errand Boy; Or, How Phil Brent Won Success

by Jr. Horatio Alger · English · Gutenberg #462 · 314,413 chars · public domain (US)

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Title: The Errand Boy; Or, How Phil Brent Won Success

Author: Jr. Horatio Alger


        
Release date: March 15, 2006 [eBook #462]
                Most recently updated: February 20, 2025

Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ERRAND BOY; OR, HOW PHIL BRENT WON SUCCESS ***



THE ERRAND BOY;

OR, HOW PHIL BRENT WON SUCCESS.

By Horatio Alger, Jr.,



Author of:

“Joe's Luck,” “Frank Fowler, the Cash Boy,” “Tom Temple's Career,” “Tom
Thatcher's Fortune,” “Ragged Dick,” “Tattered Tom,” “Luck and Pluck,”
 etc., etc.




Contents:

     The Errand Boy.

     Fred Sargent's Revenge.

     The Smuggler's Trap.





THE ERRAND BOY.





CHAPTER I.

PHIL HAS A LITTLE DIFFICULTY.

Phil Brent was plodding through the snow in the direction of the house
where he lived with his step-mother and her son, when a snow-ball, moist
and hard, struck him just below his ear with stinging emphasis. The pain
was considerable, and Phil's anger rose.

He turned suddenly, his eyes flashing fiercely, intent upon discovering
who had committed this outrage, for he had no doubt that it was
intentional.

He looked in all directions, but saw no one except a mild old gentleman
in spectacles, who appeared to have some difficulty in making his way
through the obstructed street.

Phil did not need to be told that it was not the old gentleman who had
taken such an unwarrantable liberty with him. So he looked farther, but
his ears gave him the first clew.

He heard a chuckling laugh, which seemed to proceed from behind the
stone wall that ran along the roadside.

“I will see who it is,” he decided, and plunging through the snow he
surmounted the wall, in time to see a boy of about his own age running
away across the fields as fast as the deep snow would allow.

“So it's you, Jonas!” he shouted wrathfully. “I thought it was some
sneaking fellow like you.”

Jonas Webb, his step-brother, his freckled face showing a degree of
dismay, for he had not calculated on discovery, ran the faster, but
while fear winged his steps, anger proved the more effectual spur, and
Phil overtook him after a brief run, from the effects of which both boys
panted.

“What made you throw that snow-ball?” demanded Phil angrily, as he
seized Jonas by the collar and shook him.

“You let me alone!” said Jonas, struggling ineffectually in his grasp.

“Answer me! What made you throw that snowball?” demanded Phil, in a tone
that showed he did not intend to be trifled with.

“Because I chose to,” answered Jonas, his spite getting the better of
his prudence. “Did it hurt you?” he continued, his eyes gleaming with
malice.

“I should think it might. It was about as hard as a cannon-ball,”
 returned Phil grimly. “Is that all you've got to say about it?”

“I did it in fun,” said Jonas, beginning to see that he had need to be
prudent.

“Very well! I don't like your idea of fun. Perhaps you won't like mine,”
 said Phil, as he forcibly drew Jonas back till he lay upon the snow, and
then kneeling by his side, rubbed his face briskly with snow.

“What are you doin'? Goin' to murder me?” shrieked Jonas, in anger and
dismay.

“I am going to wash your face,” said Phil, continuing the operation
vigorously.

“I say, you quit that! I'll tell my mother,” ejaculated Jonas,
struggling furiously.

“If you do, tell her why I did it,” said Phil.

Jonas shrieked and struggled, but in vain. Phil gave his face an
effectual scrubbing, and did not desist until he thought he had avenged
the bad treatment he had suffered.

“There, get up!” said he at length.

Jonas scrambled to his feet, his mean features working convulsively with
anger.

“You'll suffer for this!” he shouted.

“You won't make me!” said Phil contemptuously.

“You're the meanest boy in the village.”

“I am willing to leave that to the opinion of all who know me.”

“I'll tell my mother!”

“Go home and tell her!”

Jonas started for home, and Phil did not attempt to stop him.

As he saw Jonas reach the street and plod angrily homeward, he said to
himself:

“I suppose I shall be in hot water for this; but I can't help it. Mrs.
Brent always stands up for her precious son, who is as like her as can
be. Well, it won't make matters much worse than they have been.”

Phil concluded not to go home at once, but to allow a little time for
the storm to spend its force after Jonas had told his story. So he
delayed half an hour and then walked slowly up to the side door. He
opened the door, brushed off the snow from his boots with the broom
that stood behind the door, and opening the inner door, stepped into the
kitchen.

No one was there, as Phil's first glance satisfied him, and he was
disposed to hope that Mrs. Brent--he never called her mother--was out,
but a thin, acid, measured voice from the sitting-room adjoining soon
satisfied him that there was to be no reprieve.

“Philip Brent, come here!”

Phil entered the sitting-room.

In a rocking-chair by the fire sat a thin woman, with a sharp visage,
cold eyes and firmly compressed lips, to whom no child would voluntarily
draw near.

On a sofa lay outstretched the hulking form of Jonas, with whom he had
had his little difficulty.

“I am here, Mrs. Brent,” said Philip manfully.

“Philip Brent,” said Mrs. Brent acidly, “are you not ashamed to look me
in the face?”

“I don't know why I should be,” said Philip, bracing himself up for the
attack.

“You see on the sofa the victim of your brutality,” continued Mrs.
Brent, pointing to the recumbent figure of her son Jonas.

Jonas, as if to emphasize these words, uttered a half groan.

Philip could not help smiling, for to him it seemed ridiculous.

“You laugh,” said his step-mother sharply. “I am not surprised at it.
You delight in your brutality.”

“I suppose you mean that I have treated Jonas brutally.”

“I see you confess it.”

“No, Mrs. Brent, I do not confess it. The brutality you speak of was all
on the side of Jonas.”

“No doubt,” retorted Mrs. Brent, with sarcasm.

“It's the case of the wolf and the lamb over again.”

“I don't think Jonas has represented the matter to you as it happened,”
 said Phil. “Did he tell you that he flung a snow-ball at my head as hard
as a lump of ice?”

“He said he threw a little snow at you playfully and you sprang upon him
like a tiger.”

“There's a little mistake in that,” said Phil. “The snow-ball was hard
enough to stun me if it had hit me a little higher. I wouldn't be hit
like that again for ten dollars.”

“That ain't so! Don't believe him, mother!” said Jonas from the sofa.

“And what did you do?” demanded Mrs. Brent with a frown.

“I laid him down on the snow and washed his face with soft snow.”

“You might have given him his death of cold,” said Mrs. Brent, with
evident hostility. “I am not sure but the poor boy will have pneumonia
now, in consequence of your brutal treatment.”

“And you have nothing to say as to his attack upon me?” said Phil
indignantly.

“I have no doubt you have very much exaggerated it.”

“Yes, he has,” chimed in Jonas from the sofa.

Phil regarded his step-brother with scorn.

“Can't you tell the truth now and then, Jonas?” he asked contemptuously.

“You shall not insult my boy in my presence!” said Mrs. Brent, with a
little spot of color mantling her high cheek-bones. “Philip Brent, I
have too long endured your insolence. You think because I am a woman you
can be insolent with impunity, but you will find yourself mistaken. It
is time that you understood something that may lead you to lower your
tone. Learn, then, that you have not a cent of your own. You are wholly
dependent upon my bounty.”

“What! Did my father leave you all his money?” asked Philip.

“He was NOT your father!” answered Mrs. Brent coldly.



CHAPTER II.

A STRANGE REVELATION.

Philip started in irrepressible astonishment as these words fell from
the lips of his step-mother. It seemed to him as if the earth were
crumbling beneath his feet, for he had felt no more certain of the
existence of the universe than of his being the son of Gerald Brent.

He was not the only person amazed at this declaration. Jonas, forgetting
for the moment the part he was playing, sat bolt upright on the sofa,
with his large mouth wide open, staring by turns at Philip and his
mother.

“Gosh!” he exclaimed in a tone indicating utter surprise and
bewilderment.

“Will you repeat that, Mrs. Brent?” asked Philip, after a brief pause,
not certain that he had heard aright.

“I spoke plain English, I believe,” said Mrs. Brent coldly, enjoying the
effect of her communication.

“I said that Mr. Brent, my late husband, was not your father.”

“I don't believe you!” burst forth Philip impetuously.

“You don't wish to believe me, you mean,” answered his step-mother,
unmoved.

“No, I don't wish to believe you,” said the boy, looking her in the eye.

“You are very polite to doubt a lady's word,” said Mrs. Brent with
sarcasm.

“In such a matter as that I believe no one's word,” said Phil. “I ask
for proof.”

“Well, I am prepared to satisfy you. Sit down and I will tell you the
story.”

Philip sat down on the nearest chair and regarded his step-mother
fixedly.

“Whose son am I,” he demanded, “if not Mr. Brent's?”

“You are getting on too fast. Jonas,” continued his mother, suddenly
turning to her hulking son, on whose not very intelligent countenance
there was an expression of greedy curiosity, “do you understand that
what I am going to say is to be a secret, not to be spoken of to any
one?”

“Yes'm,” answered Jonas readily.

“Very well. Now to proceed. Philip, you have heard probably that when
you were very small your father--I mean Mr. Brent--lived in a small town
in Ohio, called Fultonville?”

“Yes, I have heard him say so.”

“Do you remember in what business he was then engaged?”

“He kept a hotel.”

“Yes; a small hotel, but as large as the place required. He was not
troubled by many guests. The few who stopped at his house were business
men from towns near by, or drummers from the great cities, who had
occasion to stay over a night. One evening, however, a gentleman arrived
with an unusual companion--in other words, a boy of about three years
of age. The boy had a bad cold, and seemed to need womanly care. Mr.
Brent's wife----”

“My mother?”

“The woman you were taught to call mother,” corrected the second Mrs.
Brent, “felt compassion for the child, and volunteered to take care
of it for the night. The offer was gladly accepted, and you--for, of
course, you were the child--were taken into Mrs. Brent's own room,
treated with simple remedies, and in the morning seemed much better.
Your father--your real father--seemed quite gratified, and preferred a
request. It was that your new friend would take care of you for a week
while he traveled to Cincinnati on business. After dispatching this, he
promised to return and resume the care of you, paying well for the favor
done him. Mrs. Brent, my predecessor, being naturally fond of children,
readily agreed to this proposal, and the child was left behind, while
the father started for Cincinnati.”

Here Mrs. Brent paused, and Philip regarded her with doubt and suspense

“Well?” he said.

“Oh, you want to know the rest?” said Mrs. Brent with an ironical smile.
“You are interested in the story?”

“Yes, madam, whether it is true or not.”

“There isn't much more to tell,” said Mrs. Brent.

“A week passed. You recovered from your cold, and became as lively
as ever. In fact, you seemed to feel quite at home among your new
surroundings, which was rather unfortunate, FOR YOUR FATHER NEVER CAME
BACK!”

“Never came back!” repeated Philip.

“No; nor was anything heard from him. Mr. and Mrs. Brent came to the
conclusion that the whole thing was prearranged to get rid of you.
Luckily for you, they had become attached to you, and, having no
children of their own, decided to retain you. Of course, some story had
to be told to satisfy the villagers. You were represented to be the
son of a friend, and this was readily believed. When, however, my late
husband left Ohio, and traveled some hundreds of miles eastward to this
place, he dropped this explanation and represented you as his own son.
Romantic, wasn't it?”

Philip looked searchingly at the face of his step-mother, or the woman
whom he had regarded as such, but he could read nothing to contradict
the story in her calm, impassive countenance. A great fear fell upon him
that she might be telling the truth. His features showed his contending
emotions. But he had a profound distrust as well as dislike of his
step-mother, and he could not bring himself to put confidence in what
she told him.

“What proof is there of this?” he asked, after a while.

“Your father's word. I mean, of course, Mr. Brent's word. He told me
this story before I married him, feeling that I had a right to know.”

“Why didn't he tell me?” asked Philip incredulously.

“He thought it would make you unhappy.”

“You didn't mind that,” said Philip, his lips curling.

“No,” answered Mrs. Brent, with a curious smile. “Why should I? I never
pretended to like you, and now I have less cause than ever, after your
brutal treatment of my boy.”

Jonas endeavored to look injured, but could not at once change the
expression of his countenance.

“Your explanation is quite satisfactory, Mrs. Brent,” returned Philip.
“I don't think I stood much higher in your estimation yesterday than
today, so that I haven't lost much. But you haven't given me any proof
yet.”

“Wait a minute.”

Mrs. Brent left the room, went up-stairs, and speedily returned,
bringing with her a small daguerreotype, representing a boy of three
years.

“Did you ever see this before?” she asked.

“No,” answered Philip, taking it from her hand and eying it curiously.

“When Mr. and Mrs. Brent decided that you were to be left on their
hands,” she proceeded, “they had this picture of you taken in the same
dress in which you came to them, with a view to establish your identity
if at any time afterward inquiry should be made for you.”

The daguerreotype represented a bright, handsome child, dressed
tastefully, and more as would be expected of a city child than of one
born in the country. There was enough resemblance to Philip as he looked
now to convince him that it was really his picture.

“I have something more to show you,” said Mrs. Brent.

She produced a piece of white paper in which the daguerreotype had been
folded. Upon it was some writing, and Philip readily recognized the hand
of the man whom he had regarded as his father.

He read these lines:


“This is the picture of the boy who was mysteriously left in the charge
of Mr. Brent, April, 1863, and never reclaimed. I have reared him as my
own son, but think it best to enter this record of the way in which he
came into my hands, and to preserve by the help of art his appearance at
the time he first came to us. GERALD BRENT.”


“Do you recognize this handwriting?” asked Mrs. Brent.

“Yes,” answered Philip in a dazed tone.

“Perhaps,” she said triumphantly, “you will doubt my word now.”

“May I have this picture?” asked Philip, without answering her.

“Yes; you have as good a claim to it as any one.”

“And the paper?”

“The paper I prefer to keep myself,” said Mrs. Brent, nodding her head
suspiciously. “I don't care to have my only proof destroyed.”

Philip did not seem to take her meaning, but with the daguerreotype in
his hand, he left the room.

“I say, mother,” chuckled Jonas, his freckled face showing his
enjoyment, “it's a good joke on Phil, isn't it? I guess he won't be
quite so uppish after this.”




CHAPTER III.

PHIL'S SUDDEN RESOLUTION.

When Phil left the presence of Mrs. Brent, he felt as if he had been
suddenly transported to a new world. He was no longer Philip Brent, and
the worst of it was that he did not know who he was. In his tumultuous
state of feeling, however, one thing seemed clear--his prospects were
wholly changed, and his plans for the future also. Mrs. Brent had told
him that he was wholly dependent upon her. Well, he did not intend to
remain so. His home had not been pleasant at the best. As a dependent
upon the bounty of such a woman it would be worse. He resolved to leave
home and strike out for himself, not from any such foolish idea of
independence as sometimes leads boys to desert a good home for an
uncertain skirmish with the world, but simply be cause he felt now that
he had no real home.

To begin with he would need money, and on opening his pocket-book he
ascertained that his available funds consisted of only a dollar and
thirty-seven cents. That wasn't quite enough to begin the world with.
But he had other resources. He owned a gun, which a friend of his would
be ready to take off his hands. He had a boat, also, which he could
probably sell.

On the village street he met Reuben Gordon, a young journeyman
carpenter, who was earning good wages, and had money to spare.

“How are you, Phil,” said Reuben in a friendly way.

“You are just the one I want to meet,” said Phil earnestly. “Didn't you
tell me once you would like to buy my gun?”

“Yes. Want to sell it?”

“No, I don't; but I want the money it will bring. So I'll sell it if
you'll buy.”

“What d'ye want for it?” asked Reuben cautiously.

“Six dollars.”

“Too much. I'll give five.”

“You can have it,” said Phil after a pause. “How soon can you let me
have the money?”

“Bring the gun round to-night, and I'll pay you for it.”

“All right. Do you know of any one who wants to buy a boat?”

“What? Going to sell that, too?”

“Yes.”

“Seems to me you're closin' up business?” said Reuben shrewdly.

“So I am. I'm going to leave Planktown.”

“You don't say? Well, I declare! Where are you goin'?”

“To New York, I guess.”

“Got any prospect there?”

“Yes.”

This was not, perhaps, strictly true--that is, Phil had no definite
prospect, but he felt that there must be a chance in a large city like
New York for any one who was willing to work, and so felt measurably
justified in saying what he did.

“I hadn't thought of buyin' a boat,” said Reuben thoughtfully.

Phil pricked up his ears at the hint of a possible customer.

“You'd better buy mine,” he said quickly; “I'll sell it cheap.”

“How cheap?”

“Ten dollars.”

“That's too much.”

“It cost me fifteen.”

“But it's second-hand now, you know,” said Reuben.

“It's just as good as new. I'm taking off five dollars, though, you
see.”

“I don't think I want it enough to pay ten dollars.”

“What will you give?”

Reuben finally agreed to pay seven dollars and seventy-five cents, after
more or less bargaining, and to pay the money that evening upon delivery
of the goods.

“I don't think I've got anything more to sell,” said Phil thoughtfully.
“There's my skates, but they are not very good. I'll give them to Tommy
Kavanagh. He can't afford to buy a pair.”

Tommy was the son of a poor widow, and was very much pleased with the
gift, which Phil conveyed to him just before supper.

Just after supper he took his gun and the key of his boat over to Reuben
Gordon, who thereupon gave him the money agreed upon.

“Shall I tell Mrs. Brent I am going away?” Phil said to himself, “or
shall I leave a note for her?”

He decided to announce his resolve in person. To do otherwise would seem
too much like running away, and that he had too much self-respect to do.

So in the evening, after his return from Reuben Gordon's, he said to
Mrs. Brent:

“I think I ought to tell you that I'm going away to-morrow.”

Mrs. Brent looked up from her work, and her cold gray eyes surveyed Phil
with curious scrutiny.

“You are going away!” she replied. “Where are you going?”

“I think I shall go to New York.”

“What for?”

“Seek my fortune, as so many have done before me.”

“They didn't always find it!” said Mrs. Brent with a cold sneer. “Is
there any other reason?”

“Yes; it's chiefly on account of what you told me yesterday. You said
that I was dependent upon you.”

“So you are.”

“And that I wasn't even entitled to the name of Brent.”

“Yes, I said it, and it's true.”

“Well,” said Phil, “I don't want to be dependent upon you. I prefer to
earn my own living.”

“I am not prepared to say but that you are right. But do you know what
the neighbors will say?”

“What will they say?”

“That I drove you from home.”

“It won't be true. I don't pretend to enjoy my home, but I suppose I can
stay on here if I like?”

“Yes, you can stay.”

“You don't object to my going?”

“No, if it is understood that you go of your own accord.”

“I am willing enough to take the blame of it, if there is any blame.”

“Very well; get a sheet of note-paper, and write at my direction.”

Phil took a sheet of note-paper from his father's desk, and sat down to
comply with Mrs. Brent's request.

She dictated as follows:

“I leave home at my own wish, but with the consent of Mrs. Brent,
to seek my fortune. It is wholly my own idea, and I hold no one else
responsible.

“PHILIP BRENT.”


“You may as well keep the name of Brent,” said his step-mother, “as you
have no other that you know of.”

Phil winced at those cold words. It was not pleasant to reflect that
this was so, and that he was wholly ignorant of his parentage.

“One thing more,” said Mrs. Brent. “It is only eight o'clock. I should
like to have you go out and call upon some of those with whom you are
most intimate, and tell them that you are leaving home voluntarily.”

“I will,” answered Phil.

“Perhaps you would prefer to do so to-morrow.”

“No; I am going away to-morrow morning.”

“Very well.”

“Going away to-morrow morning?” repeated Jonas, who entered the room at
that moment.

Phil's plan was briefly disclosed.

“Then give me your skates,” said Jonas.

“I can't. I've given them to Tommy Kavanagh.”

“That's mean. You might have thought of me first,” grumbled Jonas.

“I don't know why. Tommy Kavanagh is my friend and you are not.”

“Anyway, you can let me have your boat and gun.”

“I have sold them.”

“That's too bad.”

“I don't know why you should expect them. I needed the money they
brought me to pay my expenses till I get work.”

“I will pay your expenses to New York if you wish,” said Mrs. Brent.

“Thank you; but I shall have money enough,” answered Phil, who shrank
from receiving any favor at the hands of Mrs. Brent.

“As you please, but you will do me the justice to remember that I
offered it.”

“Thank you. I shall not forget it.”

That evening, just before going to bed, Mrs. Brent opened a trunk and
drew from it a folded paper.

She read as follows--for it was her husband's will:


“To the boy generally known as Philip Brent, and supposed, though
incorrectly, to be my son, I bequeath the sum of five thousand dollars,
and direct the same to be paid over to any one whom he may select
as guardian, to hold in trust for him till he attains the age of
twenty-one.”


“He need never know of this,” said Mrs. Brent to herself in a low tone.
“I will save it for Jonas.”

She held the paper a moment, as if undecided whether to destroy it, but
finally put it carefully back in the secret hiding-place from which she
had taken it.

“He is leaving home of his own accord,” she whispered. “Henceforth he
will probably keep away. That suits me well, but no one can say I drove
him to it.”



CHAPTER IV.

MR. LIONEL LAKE.

Six months before it might have cost Philip a pang to leave home. Then
his father was living, and from him the boy had never received aught but
kindness. Even his step-mother, though she secretly disliked him, did
not venture to show it, and secure in the affections of his supposed
father, he did not trouble himself as to whether Mrs. Brent liked him
or not. As for Jonas, he was cautioned by his mother not to get himself
into trouble by treating Phil badly, and the boy, who knew on which side
his interests lay, faithfully obeyed. It was only after the death of Mr.
Brent that both Jonas and his mother changed their course, and thought
it safe to snub Philip.

Planktown was seventy-five miles distant from New York, and the fare was
two dollars and a quarter.

This was rather a large sum to pay, considering Phil's scanty fund, but
he wished to get to the great city as soon as possible, and he decided
that it would be actually cheaper to ride than to walk, considering that
he would have to buy his meals on the way.

He took his seat in the cars, placing a valise full of underclothes on
the seat next him. The train was not very full, and the seat beside him
did not appear to be required.

Mile after mile they sped on the way, and Phil looked from the window
with interest at the towns through which they passed. There are very few
boys of his age--sixteen--who do not like to travel in the cars. Limited
as were his means, and uncertain as were his prospects, Phil felt not
only cheerful, but actually buoyant, as every minute took him farther
away from Planktown, and so nearer the city where he hoped to make a
living at the outset, and perhaps his fortune in the end.

Presently--perhaps half way on--a young man, rather stylishly dressed,
came into the car. It was not at a station, and therefore it seemed
clear that he came from another car.

He halted when he reached the seat which Phil occupied.

Our hero, observing that his glance rested on his valise, politely
removed it, saying:

“Would you like to sit down here, sir?”

“Yes, thank you,” answered the young man, and sank into the seat beside
Phil.

“Sorry to inconvenience you,” he said, with a glance at the bag.

“Oh, not at all,” returned Phil. “I only put the valise on the seat till
it was wanted by some passenger.”

“You are more considerate than some passengers,” observed the young man.
“In the next car is a woman, an elderly party, who is taking up three
extra seats to accommodate her bags and boxes.”

“That seems rather selfish,” remarked Phil.

“Selfish! I should say so. I paused a minute at her seat as I passed
along, and she was terribly afraid I wanted to sit down. She didn't
offer to move anything, though, as you have. I stopped long enough to
make her feel uncomfortable, and then passed on. I don't think I have
fared any the worse for doing so. I would rather sit beside you than
her.”

“Am I to consider that a compliment?” asked Phil, smiling.

“Well, yes, if you choose. Not that it is saying much to call you more
agreeable company than the old party alluded to. Are you going to New
York?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Live there?”

“I expect to live there.”

“Brought up in the country, perhaps?”

“Yes, in Planktown.”

“Oh, Planktown! I've heard it's a nice place, but never visited it. Got
any folks?”

Phil hesitated. In the light of the revelation that had been made to him
by Mrs. Brent, he did not know how to answer. However, there was no call
to answer definitely.

“Not many,” he said.

“Goin' to school in New York?”

“No.”

“To college, perhaps. I've got a cousin in Columbia College.”

“I wish I knew enough to go to college,” said Phil; “but I only know a
little Latin, and no Greek at all.”

“Well, I never cared much about Latin or Greek, myself. I presume you
are thinking about a business position?”

“Yes, I shall try to get a place.”

“You may find a little time necessary to find one. However, you are, no
doubt, able to pay your board for awhile.”

“For a short time,” said Phil.

“Well, I may be able to help you to a place. I know a good many
prominent business men.”

“I should be grateful to you for any help of that kind,” said Phil,
deciding that he was in luck to meet with such a friend.

“Don't mention it. I have had to struggle myself--in earlier
days--though at present I am well fixed. What is your name?”

“Philip Brent.”

“Good! My name is Lionel Lake. Sorry I haven't got any cards. Perhaps I
may have one in my pocket-book. Let me see!”

Mr. Lake opened his porte-monnaie and uttered a exclamation of surprise.

“By Jove!” he said, “I am in a fix.”

Phil looked at him inquiringly.

“I took out a roll of bills at the house of my aunt, where I stayed last
night,” explained Mr. Lake, “and must have neglected to replace them.”

“I hope you have not lost them,” said Phil politely.

“Oh, no; my aunt will find them and take care of them for me, so that I
shall get them back. The trouble is that I am left temporarily without
funds.”

“But you can get money in the city,” suggested Phil.

“No doubt; only it is necessary for me to stay over a train ten miles
short of the city.”

Mr. Lionel Lake seemed very much perplexed.

“If I knew some one in the cars,” he said reflectively.

It did occur to Phil to offer to loan him something, but the scantiness
of his own resources warned him that it would not be prudent, so he
remained silent.

Finally Mr. Lake appeared to have an idea.

“Have you got five dollars, Philip?” he said familiarly.

“Yes, sir,” answered Philip slowly.

“Then I'll make a proposal. Lend it to me and I will give you this ring
as security. It is worth twenty-five dollars easily.”

He drew from his vest-pocket a neat gold ring, with some sort of a stone
in the setting.

“There!” said Mr. Lake, “I'll give you this ring and my address, and you
can bring it to my office to-morrow morning. I'll give you back the
five dollars and one dollar for the accommodation. That's good interest,
isn't it?”

“But I might keep the ring and sell it,” suggested Phil.

“Oh, I am not afraid. You look honest. I will trust you,” said the young
man, in a careless, off-hand manner. “Say, is it a bargain?”

“Yes,” answered Phil.

It occurred to him that he could not earn a dollar more easily. Besides,
he would be doing a favor to this very polite young man.

“All right, then!”

Five dollars of Phil's scanty hoard was handed to Mr. Lake, who, in
return, gave Phil the ring, which he put on his finger.

He also handed Phil a scrap of paper, on which he penciled:


“LIONEL LAKE, No. 237 Broadway.”


“I'm ever so much obliged,” he said. “Good-by. I get out at the next
station.”

Phil was congratulating himself on his good stroke of business, when the
conductor entered the car, followed by a young lady. When they came to
where Phil was seated, the young lady said:

“That is my ring on that boy's finger?”

“Aha! we've found the thief, then!” said the conductor. “Boy, give up
the ring you stole from this young lady!”

As he spoke he placed his hand on Phil's shoulder.

“Stole!” repeated Phil, gasping. “I don't understand you.”

“Oh, yes, you do!” said the conductor roughly.



CHAPTER V.

AN OVERBEARING CONDUCTOR

No matter how honest a boy may be, a sudden charge of theft is likely to
make him look confused and guilty.

Such was the case with Phil.

“I assure you,” he said earnestly, “that I did not steal this ring.”

“Where did you get it, then?” demanded the conductor roughly.

He was one of those men who, in any position, will make themselves
disagreeable. Moreover, he was a man who always thought ill of others,
when there was any chance of doing so. In fact, he preferred to credit
his fellows with bad qualities rather than with good.

“It was handed me by a young man who just left the car,” said Phil.

“That's a likely story,” sneered the conductor.

“Young men are not in the habit of giving valuable rings to strangers.”

“He did not give it to me, I advanced him five dollars on it.”

“What was the young man's name?” asked the conductor incredulously.

“There's his name and address,” answered Phil, drawing from his pocket
the paper handed him by Mr. Lake.

“Lionel Lake, 237 Broadway,” repeated the conductor. “If there is any
such person, which I very much doubt, you are probably a confederate of
his.”

“You have no right to say this,” returned Phil indignantly.

“I haven't, haven't I?” snapped the conductor.

“Do you know what I am going to do with you?”

“If you wish me to return the ring to this young lady, I will do so, if
she is positive it is hers.”

“Yes, you must do that, but it won't get you out of trouble. I shall
hand you over to a policeman as soon as we reach New York.”

Phil was certainly dismayed, for he felt that it might be difficult for
him to prove that he came honestly in possession of the ring.

“The fact is,” added the conductor, “your story is too thin.”

“Conductor,” said a new voice, “you are doing the boy an injustice.”

The speaker was an old man with gray hair, but of form still robust,
though he was at least sixty five. He sat in the seat just behind Phil.

“Thank you, sir,” said Phil gratefully.

“I understand my business,” said the conductor impertinently, “and don't
need any instructions from you.”

“Young man,” said the old gentleman, in a very dignified tone, “I have
usually found officials of your class polite and gentlemanly, but you
are an exception.”

“Who are you?” asked the conductor rudely. “What right have you to put
in your oar?”

“As to who I am, I will answer you by and by. In reference to the boy,
I have to say that his story is correct. I heard the whole conversation
between him and the young man from whom he received the ring, and I can
testify that he has told the truth.”

“At any rate he has received stolen property.”

“Not knowing it to be stolen. The young man was an entire stranger to
him, and though I suspected that he was an unscrupulous adventurer, the
boy has not had experience enough to judge men.”

“Very well. If he's innocent he can prove it when he's brought to
trial,” said the conductor. “As for you, sir, it's none of your
business.”

“Young man, you asked me a short time since who I am. Do you want to
know?”

“I am not very particular.”

“Then, sir, I have to inform you that I am Richard Grant, the president
of this road.”

The conductor's face was a curious and interesting study when he heard
this announcement. He knew that the old man whom he had insulted had
a right to discharge him from his position, and bully as he had shown
himself, he was now inclined to humble himself to save his place.

“I beg your pardon, sir,” he said in a composed tone. “If I had known
who you were I wouldn't have spoken as I did.”

“I had a claim to be treated like a gentleman, even if I had no
connection with the road,” he said.

“If you say the boy's all right, I won't interfere with him,” continued
the conductor.

“My testimony would clear him from any charge that might be brought
against him,” said the president. “I saw him enter the car, and know he
has had no opportunity to take the ring.”

“If he'll give me back the ring, that's all I want,” said the young
lady.

“That I am willing to do, though I lose five dollars by it,” said
Philip.

“Do so, my boy,” said the president. “I take it for granted that the
young lady's claim is a just one.”

Upon this Philip drew the ring from his finger and handed it to the
young lady, who went back to the car where her friends were sitting.

“I hope, sir,” said the conductor anxiously, “that you won't be
prejudiced against me on account of this affair.”

“I am sorry to say that I can't help feeling prejudiced against you,”
 returned the president dryly; “but I won't allow this feeling to injure
you if, upon inquiring, I find that you are otherwise an efficient
officer.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“I am glad that my presence has saved this boy from being the victim of
an injustice. Let this be a lesson to you in future.”

The conductor walked away, looking quite chop-fallen, and Philip turned
to his new friend.

“I am very much indebted to you, sir,” he said. “But for you I should
have found myself in serious trouble.”

“I am glad to have prevented an injustice, my lad. I am sorry I could
not save you from loss also. That enterprising rogue has gone off with
five dollars belonging to you. I hope the loss will not be a serious one
to you.”

“It was more than a third part of my capital, sir,” said Phil, rather
ruefully.

“I am sorry for that. I suppose, however, you are not dependent upon
your own resources?”

“Yes, sir, I am.”

“Have you no parents, then?” asked Mr. Grant, with interest.

“No, sir; that is, I have a step-mother.”

“And what are your plans, if you are willing to tell me?”

“I am going to New York to try to make a living.”

“I cannot commend your plan, my young friend, unless there is a good
reason for it.”


“I think there is a good reason for it, sir.”

“I hope you have not run away from home?”

“No, sir; I left home with my step-mother's knowledge and consent.”

“That is well. I don't want wholly to discourage you, and so I will tell
you that I, too, came to New York at your age with the same object in
view, with less money in my pocket than you possess.”

“And now you are the president of a railroad!” said Phil hopefully.

“Yes; but I had a hard struggle before I reached that position.”

“I am not afraid of hard work, sir.”

“That is in your favor. Perhaps you may be as lucky as I have been. You
may call at my office in the city, if you feel inclined.”

As Mr. Grant spoke he put in Phil's hand a card bearing his name and
address, in Wall Street.

“Thank you, sir,” said Phil gratefully. “I shall be glad to call. I may
need advice.”

“If you seek advice and follow it you will be an exception to the
general rule,” said the president, smiling. “One thing more--you have
met with a loss which, to you, is a serious one. Allow me to bear it,
and accept this bill.”

“But, sir, it is not right that you should bear it,” commenced Phil.
Then, looking at the bill, he said: “Haven't you made a mistake? This is
a TEN-dollar bill.”

“I know it. Accept the other five as an evidence of my interest in you.
By the way, I go to Philadelphia and Washington before my return to New
York, and shall not return for three or four days. After that time you
will find me at my office.

“I am in luck after all,” thought Phil cheerfully, “in spite of the mean
trick of Mr. Lionel Lake.”



CHAPTER VI.

SIGNOR ORLANDO.

So Phil reached New York in very fair spirits. He found himself, thanks
to the liberality of Mr. Grant, in a better financial position than when
he left home.

As he left the depot and found himself in the streets of New York, he
felt like a stranger upon the threshold of a new life. He knew almost
nothing about the great city he had entered, and was at a loss where to
seek for lodgings.

“It's a cold day,” said a sociable voice at his elbow.

Looking around, Phil saw that the speaker was a sallow-complexioned
young man, with black hair and mustache, a loose black felt hat, crushed
at the crown, giving him rather a rakish look.

“Yes, sir,” answered Phil politely.

“Stranger in the city, I expect?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Never mind the sir. I ain't used to ceremony. I am Signor Orlando.”

“Signor Orlando!” repeated Phil, rather puzzled.

“Are you an Italian?”

“Well, yes,” returned Signor Orlando, with a wink, “that's what I am, or
what people think me; but I was born in Vermont, and am half Irish and
half Yankee.”

“How did you come by your name, then?”

“I took it,” answered his companion. “You see, dear boy, I'm a
professional.”

“A what?”

“A professional--singer and clog-dancer. I believe I am pretty well
known to the public,” continued Signor Orlando complacently. “Last
summer I traveled with Jenks & Brown's circus. Of course you've heard of
THEM. Through the winter I am employed at Bowerman's Varieties, in the
Bowery. I appear every night, and at two matinees weekly.”

It must be confessed that Phil was considerably impressed by the
professional character of Signor Orlando. He had never met an actor,
or public performer of any description, and was disposed to have a high
respect for a man who filled such a conspicuous position. There was not,
to be sure, anything very impressive about Signor Orlando's appearance.
His face did not indicate talent, and his dress was shabby. But for all
that he was a man familiar with the public--a man of gifts.

“I should like to see you on the stage,” said Phil respectfully.

“So you shall, my dear boy--so you shall. I'll get you a pass from Mr.
Bowerman. Which way are you going?”

“I don't know,” answered Phil, puzzled. “I should like to find a cheap
boarding-house, but I don't know the city.”

“I do,” answered Signor Orlando promptly. “Why not come to my house?”

“Have you a house?”

“I mean my boarding-house. It's some distance away. Suppose we take a
horse-car?”

“All right!” answered Phil, relieved to find a guide in the labyrinth of
the great city.

“I live on Fifth Street, near the Bowery--a very convenient location,”
 said Orlando, if we may take the liberty to call him thus.

“Fifth Avenue?” asked Phil, who did not know the difference.

“Oh, no; that's a peg above my style. I am not a Vanderbilt, nor yet an
Astor.”

“Is the price moderate?” asked Phil anxiously. “I must make my money
last as long as I can, for I don't know when I shall get a place.”

“To be sure. You might room with me, only I've got a hall bedroom.
Perhaps we might manage it, though.”

“I think I should prefer a room by myself,” said Phil, who reflected
that Signor Orlando was a stranger as yet.

“Oh, well, I'll speak to the old lady, and I guess she can accommodate
you with a hall bedroom like mine on the third floor.”

“What should I have to pay?”

“A dollar and a quarter a week, and you can get your meals where you
please.”

“I think that will suit me,” said Phil thoughtfully.

After leaving the car, a minute's walk brought them to a shabby
three-story house of brick. There was a stable opposite, and a group of
dirty children were playing in front of it.

“This is where I hang out,” said Signor Orlando cheerfully. “As the poet
says, there is no place like home.”

If this had been true it was not much to be regretted, since the home in
question was far from attractive.

Signor Orlando rang the bell, and a stout woman of German aspect
answered the call.

“So you haf come back, Herr Orlando,” said this lady. “I hope you haf
brought them two weeks' rent you owe me.”

“All in good time, Mrs. Schlessinger,” said Orlando. “But you see I have
brought some one with me.”

“Is he your bruder now?” asked the lady.

“No, he is not, unfortunately for me. His name is----”

Orlando coughed.

“Philip Brent,” suggested our hero.

“Just so--Philip Brent.”

“I am glad to see Mr. Prent,” said the landlady.

“And is he an actor like you, Signor Orlando?”

“Not yet. We don't know what may happen. But he comes on business, Mrs.
Schlessinger. He wants a room.”

The landlady brightened up. She had two rooms vacant, and a new lodger
was a godsend.

“I vill show Mr. Prent what rooms I haf,” she said. “Come up-stairs, Mr.
Prent.”

The good woman toiled up the staircase panting, for she was asthmatic,
and Phil followed. The interior of the house was as dingy as the
exterior, and it was quite dark on the second landing.

She threw open the door of a back room, which, being lower than the
hall, was reached by a step.

“There!” said she, pointing to the faded carpet, rumpled bed, and cheap
pine bureau, with the little six-by-ten looking-glass surmounting it.
“This is a peautiful room for a single gentleman, or even for a man and
his wife.”

“My friend, Mr. Brent, is not married,” said Signor Orlando waggishly.

Phil laughed.

“You will have your shoke, Signor Orlando,” said Mrs. Schlessinger.

“What is the price of this room?” asked Phil.

“Three dollars a week, Mr. Prent, I ought to have four, but since you
are a steady young gentleman----”

“How does she know that?” Phil wondered.

“Since you are a steady young gentleman, and a friend of Signor Orlando,
I will not ask you full price.”

“That is more than I can afford to pay,” said Phil, shaking his head.

“I think you had better show Mr. Brent the hall bedroom over mine,”
 suggested the signor.

Mrs. Schlessinger toiled up another staircase, the two new acquaintances
following her. She threw open the door of one of those depressing cells
known in New York as a hall bedroom. It was about five feet wide and
eight feet long, and was nearly filled up by a cheap bedstead, covered
by a bed about two inches thick, and surmounted at the head by a
consumptive-looking pillow. The paper was torn from the walls in places.
There was one rickety chair, and a wash-stand which bore marks of
extreme antiquity.

“This is a very neat room for a single gentleman,” remarked Mrs.
Schlessinger.

Phil's spirits fell as he surveyed what was to be his future home. It
was a sad contrast to his neat, comfortable room at home.

“Is this room like yours, Signor Orlando?” he asked faintly.

“As like as two peas,” answered Orlando.

“Would you recommend me to take it?”

“You couldn't do better.”

How could the signor answer otherwise in presence of a landlady to whom
he owed two weeks' rent?

“Then,” said Phil, with a secret shudder, “I'll take it if the rent is
satisfactory.”

“A dollar and a quarter a week,” said Mrs. Schlessinger promptly.

“I'll take it for a week.”

“You won't mind paying in advance?” suggested the landlady. “I pay my
own rent in advance.”

Phil's answer was to draw a dollar and a quarter from his purse and pass
it to his landlady.

“I'll take possession now,” said our hero. “Can I have some water to
wash my face?”

Mrs. Schlessinger was evidently surprised that any one should want to
wash in the middle of the day, but made no objections.

When Phil had washed his face and hands, he went out with Signor Orlando
to dine at a restaurant on the Bowery.



CHAPTER VII.

BOWERMAN'S VARIETIES.

The restaurant to which he was taken by Signor Orlando was thronged with
patrons, for it was one o'clock. On the whole, they did not appear
to belong to the highest social rank, though they were doubtless
respectable. The table-cloths were generally soiled, and the waiters had
a greasy look. Phil said nothing, but he did not feel quite so hungry as
before he entered.

The signor found two places at one of the tables, and they sat down.
Phil examined a greasy bill of fare and found that he could obtain a
plate of meat for ten cents. This included bread and butter, and a dish
of mashed potato. A cup of tea would be five cents additional.

“I can afford fifteen cents for a meal,” he thought, and called for a
plate of roast beef.

“Corn beef and cabbage for me,” said the signor.

“It's very filling,” he remarked aside to Phil.

“They won't give you but a mouthful of beef.”

So it proved, but the quality was such that Phil did not care for more.
He ordered a piece of apple pie afterward feeling still hungry.


“I see you're bound to have a square meal,” said the signor.

After Phil had had it, he was bound to confess that he did not feel
uncomfortably full. Yet he had spent twice as much as the signor, who
dispensed with the tea and pie as superfluous luxuries.

In the evening Signor Orlando bent his steps toward Bowerman's
Varieties.

“I hope in a day or two to get a complimentary ticket for you, Mr.
Brent,” he said.

“How much is the ticket?” asked Phil.

“Fifteen cents. Best reserved seats twenty-five cents.'

“I believe I will be extravagant for once,” said Phil, “and go at my own
expense.”

“Good!” said the signor huskily. “You'll feel repaid I'll be bound.
Bowerman always gives the public their money's worth. The performance
begins at eight o'clock and won't be out until half-past eleven.”

“Less than five cents an hour,” commented Phil.

“What a splendid head you've got!” said Signor Orlando admiringly. “I
couldn't have worked that up. Figures ain't my province.”

It seemed to Phil rather a slender cause for compliment, but he said
nothing, since it seemed clear that the computation was beyond his
companion's ability.

As to the performance, it was not refined, nor was the talent employed
first-class. Still Phil enjoyed himself after a fashion. He had never
had it in his power to attend many amusements, and this was new to him.
He naturally looked with interest for the appearance of his new friend
and fellow-lodger.

Signor Orlando appeared, dressed in gorgeous array, sang a song which
did credit to the loudness of his voice rather than its quality, and
ended by a noisy clog-dance which elicited much applause from the boys
in the gallery, who shared the evening's entertainment for the moderate
sum of ten cents.

The signor was called back to the stage. He bowed his thanks and gave
another dance. Then he was permitted to retire. As this finished his
part of the entertainment he afterward came around in citizen's dress,
and took a seat in the auditorium beside Phil.

“How did you like me, Mr. Brent?” he asked complacently.

“I thought you did well, Signor Orlando. You were much applauded.”

“Yes, the audience is very loyal,” said the proud performer.

Two half-grown boys heard Phil pronounce the name of his companion, and
they gazed awe-stricken at the famous man.

“That's Signor Orlando!” whispered one of the others.

“I know it,” was the reply.

“Such is fame,” said the Signor, in a pleased tone to Phil. “People
point me out on the streets.”

“Very gratifying, no doubt,” said our hero, but it occurred to him that
he would not care to be pointed out as a performer at Bowerman's. Signor
Orlando, however, well-pleased with himself, didn't doubt that Phil was
impressed by his popularity, and perhaps even envied it.

They didn't stay till the entertainment was over. It was, of course,
familiar to the signor, and Phil felt tired and sleepy, for he had
passed a part of the afternoon in exploring the city, and had walked in
all several miles.

He went back to his lodging-house, opened the door with a pass-key which
Mrs. Schlessinger had given him, and climbing to his room in the third
story, undressed and deposited himself in bed.

The bed was far from luxurious. A thin pallet rested on slats, so
thin that he could feel the slats through it, and the covering was
insufficient. The latter deficiency he made up by throwing his overcoat
over the quilt, and despite the hardness of his bed, he was soon
sleeping soundly.

“To-morrow I must look for a place,” he said to Signor Orlando. “Can you
give me any advise?”

“Yes, my dear boy. Buy a daily paper, the Sun or Herald, and look at the
advertisements. There may be some prominent business man who is looking
out for a boy of your size.”

Phil knew of no better way, and he followed Signor Orlando's advice.

After a frugal breakfast at the Bowery restaurant, he invested a few
pennies in the two papers mentioned, and began to go the rounds.

The first place was in Pearl Street.

He entered, and was directed to a desk in the front part of the store.

“You advertised for a boy,” he said.

“We've got one,” was the brusque reply.

Of course no more was to be said, and Phil walked out, a little dashed
at his first rebuff.

At the next place he found some half a dozen boys waiting, and joined
the line, but the vacancy was filled before his turn came.

At the next place his appearance seemed to make a good impression, and
he was asked several questions.

“What is your name?”

“Philip Brent.”

“How old are you?”

“Just sixteen.”

“How is your education?”

“I have been to school since I was six.”

“Then you ought to know something. Have you ever been in a place?”

“No, sir.”

“Do you live with your parents?”

“No, sir; I have just come to the city, and am lodging in Fifth Street.”

“Then you won't do. We wish our boys to live with their parents.”

Poor Phil! He had allowed himself to hope that at length he was likely
to get a place. The abrupt termination of the conversation dispirited
him.

He made three more applications. In one of them he again came near
succeeding, but once more the fact that he did not live with his parents
defeated his application.

“It seems to be very hard getting a place,” thought Phil, and it must be
confessed he felt a little homesick.

“I won't make any more applications to-day,” he decided, and being on
Broadway, walked up that busy thoroughfare, wondering what the morrow
would bring forth.

It was winter, and there was ice on the sidewalk. Directly in front of
Phil walked an elderly gentleman, whose suit of fine broadcloth and gold
spectacles, seemed to indicate a person of some prominence and social
importance.

Suddenly he set foot on a treacherous piece of ice. Vainly he strove to
keep his equilibrium, his arms waving wildly, and his gold-headed cane
falling to the sidewalk. He would have fallen backward, had not Phil,
observing his danger in time, rushed to his assistance.



CHAPTER VIII.

THE HOUSE IN TWELFTH STREET.

With some difficulty the gentleman righted himself, and then Phil picked
up his cane.

“I hope you are not hurt, sir?” he said.

“I should have been but for you, my good boy,” said the gentleman. “I am
a little shaken by the suddenness of my slipping.”

“Would you wish me to go with you, sir?”

“Yes, if you please. I do not perhaps require you, but I shall be glad
of your company.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Do you live in the city?”

“Yes, sir; that is, I propose to do so. I have come here in search of
employment.”

Phil said this, thinking it possible that the old gentleman might exert
his influence in his favor.

“Are you dependent on what you may earn?” asked the gentleman, regarding
him attentively.

“I have a little money, sir, but when that is gone I shall need to earn
something.”

“That is no misfortune. It is a good thing for a boy to be employed.
Otherwise he is liable to get into mischief.”

“At any rate, I shall be glad to find work, sir.”

“Have you applied anywhere yet?”

Phil gave a little account of his unsuccessful applications, and the
objections that had been made to him.

“Yes, yes,” said the old gentleman thoughtfully, “more confidence is
placed in a boy who lives with his parents.”

The two walked on together until they reached Twelfth Street. It was
a considerable walk, and Phil was surprised that his companion should
walk, when he could easily have taken a Broadway stage, but the old
gentleman explained this himself.

“I find it does me good,” he said, “to spend some time in the open air,
and even if walking tires me it does me good.”

At Twelfth Street they turned off.

“I am living with a married niece,” he said, “just on the other side of
Fifth Avenue.”

At the door of a handsome four-story house, with a brown-stone front,
the old gentleman paused, and told Phil that this was his residence.

“Then, sir, I will bid you good-morning,” said Phil.

“No, no; come in and lunch with me,” said Mr. Carter hospitably.

He had, by the way, mentioned that his name was Oliver Carter, and that
he was no longer actively engaged in business, but was a silent partner
in the firm of which his nephew by marriage was the nominal head.

“Thank you, sir,” answered Phil.

He was sure that the invitation was intended to be accepted, and he saw
no reason why he should not accept it.

“Hannah,” said the old gentleman to the servant who opened the door,
“tell your mistress that I have brought a boy home to dinner with me.”

“Yes, sir,” answered Hannah, surveying Phil in some surprise.

“Come up to my room, my young friend,” said Mr. Carter. “You may want to
prepare for lunch.”

Mr. Carter had two connecting rooms on the second floor, one of which he
used as a bed-chamber. The furniture was handsome and costly, and Phil,
who was not used to city houses, thought it luxurious.

Phil washed his face and hands, and brushed his hair. Then a bell rang,
and following his new friend, he went down to lunch.

Lunch was set out in the front basement. When Phil and Mr. Carter
entered the room a lady was standing by the fire, and beside her was a
boy of about Phil's age. The lady was tall and slender, with light-brown
hair and cold gray eyes.

“Lavinia,” said Mr. Carter, “I have brought a young friend with me to
lunch.”

“So I see,” answered the lady. “Has he been here before?”

“No; he is a new acquaintance.”

“I would speak to him if I knew his name.”

“His name is----”

Here the old gentleman hesitated, for in truth he had forgotten.

“Philip Brent.”

“You may sit down here, Mr. Brent,” said Mrs. Pitkin, for this was the
lady's name.

“Thank you, ma'am.”

“And so you made my uncle's acquaintance this morning?” she continued,
herself taking a seat at the head of the table.

“Yes; he was of service to me,” answered Mr. Carter for him. “I had lost
my balance, and should have had a heavy fall if Philip had not come to
my assistance.”

“He was very kind, I am sure,” said Mrs. Pitkin, but her tone was very
cold.

“Philip,” said Mr. Carter, “this is my grand-nephew, Alonzo Pitkin.”

He indicated the boy already referred to.

“How do you do?” said Alonzo, staring at Philip not very cordially.

“Very well, thank you,” answered Philip politely.

“Where do you live?” asked Alonzo, after a moment's hesitation.

“In Fifth Street.”

“That's near the Bowery, isn't it?”

“Yes.”

The boy shrugged his shoulders and exchanged a significant look with his
mother.

Fifth Street was not a fashionable street--indeed quite the reverse,
and Phil's answer showed that he was a nobody. Phil himself had begun
to suspect that he was unfashionably located, but he felt that until his
circumstances improved he might as well remain where he was.

But, though he lived in an unfashionable street, it could not be said
that Phil, in his table manners, showed any lack of good breeding. He
seemed quite at home at Mrs. Pitkin's table, and in fact acted with
greater propriety than Alonzo, who was addicted to fast eating and
greediness.

“Couldn't you walk home alone, Uncle Oliver?” asked Mrs. Pitkin
presently.

“Yes.”

“Then it was a pity to trouble Mr. Brent to come with you.”

“It was no trouble,” responded Philip promptly, though he suspected that
it was not consideration for him that prompted the remark.

“Yes, I admit that I was a little selfish in taking up my young friend's
time,” said the old gentleman cheerfully; “but I infer, from what he
tells me, that it is not particularly valuable just now.”

“Are you in a business position, Mr. Brent?” asked Mrs. Pitkin.

“No, madam. I was looking for a place this morning.”

“Have you lived for some time in the city?”

“No; I came here only yesterday from the country.”

“I think country boys are very foolish to leave good homes in the
country to seek places in the city,” said Mrs. Pitkin sharply.

“There may be circumstances, Lavinia, that make it advisable,” suggested
Mr. Carter, who, however, did not know Phil's reason for coming.

“No doubt; I understand that,” answered Mrs. Pitkin, in a tone so
significant that Phil wondered whether she thought he had got into any
trouble at home.

“And besides, we can't judge for every one. So I hope Master Philip may
find some good and satisfactory opening, now that he has reached the
city.”

After a short time, lunch, which in New York is generally a plain meal,
was over, and Mr. Carter invited Philip to come up-stairs again.

“I want to talk over your prospects, Philip,” he said.

There was silence till after the two had left the room. Then Mrs. Pitkin
said:

“Alonzo, I don't like this.”

“What don't you like, ma?”

“Uncle bringing this boy home. It is very extraordinary, this sudden
interest in a perfect stranger.”

“Do you think he'll leave him any money?” asked Alonzo, betraying
interest.

“I don't know what it may lead to, Lonny, but it don't look right. Such
things have been known.”

“I'd like to punch the boy's head,” remarked Alonzo, with sudden
hostility. “All uncle's money ought to come to us.”

“So it ought, by rights,” observed his mother.

“We must see that this boy doesn't get any ascendency over him.”

Phil would have been very much amazed if he had overheard this
conversation.



CHAPTER IX.

THE OLD GENTLEMAN PROVES A FRIEND.

The old gentleman sat down in an arm-chair and waved his hand toward a
small rocking-chair, in which Phil seated himself.

“I conclude that you had a good reason for leaving home, Philip,” said
Mr. Carter, eying our hero with a keen, but friendly look.

“Yes, sir; since my father's death it has not been a home to me.”

“Is there a step-mother in the case?” asked the old gentleman shrewdly.

“Yes, sir.”

“Any one else?”

“She has a son.”

“And you two don't agree?”

“You seem to know all about it, sir,” said Phil, surprised.

“I know something of the world--that is all.”

Phil began to think that Mr. Carter's knowledge of the world was
very remarkable. He began to wonder whether he could know anything
more--could suspect the secret which Mrs. Brent had communicated to him.
Should he speak of it? He decided at any rate to wait, for Mr. Carter,
though kind, was a comparative stranger.

“Well,” continued the old gentleman, “I won't inquire too minutely into
the circumstances. You don't look like a boy that would take such an
important step as leaving home without a satisfactory reason. The next
thing is to help you.”

Phil's courage rose as he heard these words. Mr. Carter was evidently a
rich man, and he could help him if he was willing. So he kept silence,
and let his new friend do the talking.

“You want a place,” continued Mr. Carter. “Now, what are you fit for?”

“That is a hard question for me to answer, sir. I don't know.”

“Have you a good education?”

“Yes, sir; and I know something of Latin and French besides.”

“You can write a good hand?”

“Shall I show you, sir?”

“Yes; write a few lines at my private desk.”

Phil did so, and handed the paper to Mr. Carter.

“Very good,” said the old gentleman approvingly.

“That is in your favor. Are you good at accounts?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Better still.”

“Sit down there again,” he continued. “I will give you a sum in
interest.”

Phil resumed his seat.

“What is the interest of eight hundred and forty-five dollars and
sixty cents for four years, three months and twelve days, at eight and
one-half per cent?”

Phil's pen moved fast in perfect silence for five minutes. Then he
announced the result.

“Let me look at the paper. I will soon tell you whether it is correct.”

After a brief examination, for the old gentleman was himself an adept at
figures, he said, with a beaming smile:

“It is entirely correct. You are a smart boy.”

“Thank you, sir,” said Phil, gratified.

“And you deserve a good place--better than you will probably get.”

Phil listened attentively. The last clause was not quite so
satisfactory.

“Yes,” said Mr. Carter, evidently talking to himself, “I must get Pitkin
to take him.”

Phil knew that the lady whom he had already met was named Pitkin, and he
rightly concluded that it was her husband who was meant.

“I hope he is more agreeable than his wife,” thought Philip.

“Yes, Philip,” said Mr. Carter, who had evidently made up his mind, “I
will try to find you a place this afternoon.

“I shall be very much obliged, sir,” said Philip gladly.

“I have already told you that my nephew and I are in business together,
he being the active and I the silent partner. We do a general shipping
business. Our store is on Franklin Street. I will give you a letter to
my nephew and he will give you a place.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Wait a minute and I will write the note.”

Five minutes later Phil was on his way down town with his credentials in
his pocket.



CHAPTER X.

Phil CALLS ON MR. PITKIN.

PHIL paused before an imposing business structure, and looked up to
see if he could see the sign that would show him he had reached his
destination.

He had not far to look. On the front of the building he saw in large
letters the sign:

ENOCH PITKIN & CO.


In the door-way there was another sign, from which he learned that the
firm occupied the second floor.

He went up-stairs, and opening a door, entered a spacious apartment
which looked like a hive of industry. There were numerous clerks,
counters piled with goods, and every indication that a prosperous
business was being carried on.

The nearest person was a young man of eighteen, or perhaps more, with
an incipient, straw-colored mustache, and a shock of hair of tow-color.
This young man wore a variegated neck-tie, a stiff standing-collar, and
a suit of clothes in the extreme of fashion.

Phil looked at him hesitatingly.

The young man observed the look, and asked condescendingly:

“What can I do for you, my son?”

Such an address from a person less than three years older than himself
came near upsetting the gravity of Phil.

“Is Mr. Pitkin in?” he asked.

“Yes, I believe so.”

“Can I see him.”

“I have no objection,” remarked the young man facetiously.

“Where shall I find him?”

The youth indicated a small room partitioned off as a private office in
the extreme end of the store.

“Thank you,” said Phil, and proceeded to find his way to the office in
question.

Arrived at the door, which was partly open, he looked in.

In an arm-chair sat a small man, with an erect figure and an air of
consequence. He was not over forty-five, but looked older, for his
cheeks were already seamed and his look was querulous. Cheerful natures
do not so soon show signs of age as their opposites.

“Mr. Pitkin?” said Phil interrogatively.

“Well?” said the small man, frowning instinctively.

“I have a note for you, sir.”

Phil stepped forward and handed the missive to Mr. Pitkin.

The latter opened it quickly and read as follows:


The boy who will present this to you did me a service this morning. He
is in want of employment. He seems well educated, but if you can't offer
him anything better than the post of errand boy, do so. I will guarantee
that he will give satisfaction. You can send him to the post-office, and
to other offices on such errands as you may have. Pay him five dollars a
week and charge that sum to me. Yours truly, OLIVER CARTER.


Mr. Pitkin's frown deepened as he read this note.

“Pish!” he ejaculated, in a tone which, though low, was audible to Phil.
“Uncle Oliver must be crazy. What is your name?” he demanded fiercely,
turning suddenly to Phil.

“Philip Brent.”

“When did you meet--the gentleman who gave you this letter?”

Phil told him.

“Do you know what is in this letter?”

“I suppose, sir, it is a request that you give me a place.”

“Did you read it?”

“No,” answered Phil indignantly.

“Humph! He wants me to give you the place of errand boy.”

“I will try to suit you, sir.”

“When do you want to begin?”

“As soon as possible, sir.”

“Come to-morrow morning, and report to me first.”

“Another freak of Uncle Oliver's!” he muttered, as he turned his back
upon Phil, and so signified that the interview was at an end.



CHAPTER XI.

PHIL ENTERS UPON HIS DUTIES.

Phil presented himself in good season the next morning at the store in
Franklin Street. As he came up in one direction the youth whom he had
seen in the store the previous day came up in the opposite direction.
The latter was evidently surprised.

“Halloo, Johnny!” said he. “What's brought you here again?”

“Business,” answered Phil.

“Going to buy out the firm?” inquired the youth jocosely.

“Not to-day.”

“Some other day, then,” said the young man, laughing as if he had said a
very witty thing.

As Phil didn't know that this form of expression, slightly varied, had
become a popular phrase of the day, he did not laugh.

“Do you belong to the church?” asked the youth, stopping short in his
own mirth.

“What makes you ask?”

“Because you don't laugh.”

“I would if I saw anything to laugh at.”

“Come, that's hard on me. Honor bright, have you come to do any business
with us?”

It is rather amusing to see how soon the cheapest clerk talks of “us,”
 quietly identifying himself with the firm that employs him. Not that I
object to it. Often it implies a personal interest in the success and
prosperity of the firm, which makes a clerk more valuable. This was not,
however, the case with G. Washington Wilbur, the young man who was now
conversing with Phil, as will presently appear.

“I am going to work here,” answered Phil simply.

“Going to work here!” repeated Mr. Wilbur in surprise. “Has old Pitkin
engaged you?”

“Mr. Pitkin engaged me yesterday,” Phil replied.

“I didn't know he wanted a boy. What are you to do?”

“Go to the post-office, bank, and so on.”

“You're to be errand boy, then?”

“Yes.”

“That's the way I started,” said Mr. Wilbur patronizingly.

“What are you now?”

“A salesman. I wouldn't like to be back in my old position. What wages
are you going to get?”

“Five dollars.”

“Five dollars a week!” ejaculated Mr. G. Washington Wilbur, in
amazement. “Come, you're chaffing.”

“Why should I do that? Is that anything remarkable?”

“I should say it was,” answered Mr. Wilbur slowly.

“Didn't you get as much when you were errand boy?”

“I only got two dollars and a half. Did Pitkin tell you he would pay you
five dollars a week.”

“No; Mr Carter told me so.”

“The old gentleman--Mr. Pitkin's uncle?”

“Yes. It was at his request that Mr. Pitkin took me on.”

Mr. Wilbur looked grave.

“It's a shame!” he commenced.

“What is a shame; that I should get five dollars a week?”

“No, but that I should only get a dollar a week more than an errand boy.
I'm worth every cent of ten dollars a week, but the old man only gives
me six. It hardly keeps me in gloves and cigars.”

“Won't he give you any more?”

“No; only last month I asked him for a raise, and he told me if I wasn't
satisfied I might go elsewhere.”

“You didn't?”

“No, but I mean to soon. I will show old Pitkin that he can't keep a man
of my experience for such a paltry salary. I dare say that Denning or
Claflin would be glad to have me, and pay me what I am worth.”

Phil did not want to laugh, but when Mr. Wilbur, who looked scarcely
older than himself, and was in appearance but a callow youth, referred
to himself as a man of experience he found it hard to resist.

“Hadn't we better be going up stairs?” asked Phil.

“All right. Follow me,” said Mr. Wilbur, “and I'll take you to the
superintendent of the room.”

“I am to report to Mr. Pitkin himself, I believe.”

“He won't be here yet awhile,” said Wilbur.

But just then up came Mr. Wilbur himself, fully half an hour earlier
than usual.

Phil touched his hat politely, and said:

“Good-morning.”

“Good-morning!” returned his employer, regarding him sharply. “Are you
the boy I hired yesterday?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Come up-stairs, then.”

Phil followed Mr. Pitkin up-stairs, and they walked together through the
sales-room.

“I hope you understand,” said Mr. Pitkin brusquely, “that I have engaged
you at the request of Mr. Carter and to oblige him.”

“I feel grateful to Mr. Carter,” said Phil, not quite knowing what was
coming next.

“I shouldn't myself have engaged a boy of whom I knew nothing, and who
could give me no city references.”

“I hope you won't be disappointed in me,” said Phil.

“I hope not,” answered Mr. Pitkin, in a tone which seemed to imply that
he rather expected to be.

Phil began to feel uncomfortable. It seemed evident that whatever he did
would be closely scrutinized, and that in an unfavorable spirit.

Mr. Pitkin paused before a desk at which was standing a stout man with
grayish hair.

“Mr. Sanderson,” he said, “this is the new errand boy. His name is--what
is it, boy?”

“Philip Brent.”

“You will give him something to do. Has the mail come in?”

“No; we haven't sent to the post-office yet.”

“You may send this boy at once.”

Mr. Sanderson took from the desk a key and handed it to Philip.

“That is the key to our box,” he said. “Notice the number--534. Open it
and bring the mail. Don't loiter on the way.”

“Yes, sir.”

Philip took the key and left the warehouse. When he reached the street
he said to himself:

“I wonder where the post-office is?”

He did not like to confess to Mr. Sanderson that he did not know, for
it would probably have been considered a disqualification for the post
which he was filling.

“I had better walk to Broadway,” he said to himself. “I suppose the
post-office must be on the principal street.”

In this Phil was mistaken. At that time the post-office was on Nassau
Street, in an old church which had been utilized for a purpose very
different from the one to which it had originally been devoted.

Reaching Broadway, Phil was saluted by a bootblack, with a grimy but
honest-looking face.

“Shine your boots, mister?” said the boy, with a grin.

“Not this morning.”

“Some other morning, then?”

“Yes,” answered Phil.

“Sorry you won't give me a job,” said the bootblack. “My taxes comes due
to-day, and I ain't got enough to pay 'em.”

Phil was amused, for his new acquaintance scarcely looked like a heavy
taxpayer.

“Do you pay a big tax?” he asked.

“A thousand dollars or less,” answered the knight of the brush.

“I guess it's less,” said Phil.

“That's where your head's level, young chap.”

“Is the post-office far from here?”

“Over half a mile, I reckon.”

“Is it on this street?”

“No, it's on Nassau Street.”

“If you will show me the way there I'll give you ten cents.”

“All right! The walk'll do me good. Come on!”

“What's your name?” asked Phil, who had become interested in his new
acquaintance.

“The boys call me Ragged Dick.”

It was indeed the lively young bootblack whose history was afterward
given in a volume which is probably familiar to many of my readers. At
this time he was only a bootblack, and had not yet begun to feel the
spur of that ambition which led to his subsequent prosperity.

“That's a queer name,” said Phil.

“I try to live up to it,” said Dick, with a comical glance at his ragged
coat, which had originally been worn by a man six feet in height.

He swung his box over his shoulder, and led the way to the old
post-office.



CHAPTER XII.

MR. LIONEL LAKE AGAIN.

Phil continued his conversation with Ragged Dick, and was much amused by
his quaint way of expressing himself.

When they reached Murray Street, Dick said:

“Follow me. We'll cut across the City Hall Park. It is the shortest
way.”

Soon they reached the shabby old building with which New Yorkers were
then obliged to be content with as a post-office.

Phil secured the mail matter for Pitkin & Co., and was just about
leaving the office, when he noticed just ahead of him a figure which
looked very familiar.

It flashed upon him of a sudden that it was his old train acquaintance,
Lionel Lake. He immediately hurried forward and touched his arm.

Mr. Lake, who had several letters in his hand, started nervously, and
turned at the touch. He recognized Phil, but appeared not to do so.

“What do you wish, boy?” he asked, loftily.

“I want to speak a word with you, Mr. Lake.”

The young man shrugged his shoulders.

“You are mistaken in the person,” he said. “My name is not Lake.”

“Very likely not,” said Phil significantly, “but that's what you called
yourself when we met on the train.”

“I repeat, boy, that you are strangely mistaken. My name is”--he paused
slightly--“John Montgomery.”

“Just as you please. Whatever your name is, I have a little business
with you.”

“I can't stop. My business is urgent,” said Lake.

“Then I will be brief. I lent you five dollars on a ring which I
afterward discovered to be stolen. I want you to return that money.”

Mr. Lake looked about him apprehensively, for he did not wish any one to
hear what Phil was saying.

“You must be crazy!” he said. “I never saw you before in the whole
course of my life.”

He shook off Phil's detaining hand, and was about to hurry away, but
Phil said resolutely:

“You can't deceive me, Mr. Lake. Give me that money, or I will call a
policeman.”

Now, it happened that a policeman was passing just outside, and Lake
could see him.

“This is an infamous outrage!” he said, “but I have an important
appointment, and can't be detained. Take the money. I give it to you in
charity.”

Phil gladly received and pocketed the bank-note, and relinquishing his
hold of Mr. Lake, rejoined Dick, who had been an interested eye-witness
of the interview.

“I see you've got pluck,” said Dick. “What's it all about?”

Phil told him.

“I ain't a bit s'prised,” said Dick. “I could tell by his looks that the
man was a skin.”

“Well, I'm even with him, at any rate,” said Phil.

“Now I'll be getting back to the office. Thank you for your guidance.
Here's a quarter.”

“You only promised me ten cents.”

“It's worth a quarter. I hope to meet you again.”

“We'll meet at Astor's next party,” said Dick, with a grin. “My invite
came yesterday.”

“Mine hasn't come yet,” said Phil, smiling.

“Maybe it'll come to-morrow.”

“He's a queer chap,” thought Phil. “He's fit for something better than
blacking boots. I hope he'll have the luck to get it.”

Phil had been detained by his interview with Mr. Lake, but he made up
for it by extra speed, and reached the warehouse in fair time. After
delivering the letters he was sent out on another errand, and during the
entire day he was kept busy.

Leaving him for the moment we go back to the Pitkin mansion, and listen
to & conversation between Mr. and Mrs. Pitkin.

“Uncle Oliver is getting more and more eccentric every day,” said the
lady. “He brought home a boy to lunch to-day--some one whom he had
picked up in the street.”

“Was the boy's name Philip Brent?” asked her husband.

“Yes, I believe so. What do you know about him?” asked the lady in
surprise.

“I have engaged him as errand boy.”

“You have! What for?” exclaimed Mrs. Pitkin.

“I couldn't help it. He brought a letter from your uncle, requesting me
to do so, and offering to pay his wages out of his own pocket.”

“This is really getting very serious,” said Mrs. Pitkin, annoyed.
“Suppose he should take a fancy to this boy?”

“He appears to have done so already,” said her husband dryly.

“I mean, suppose he should adopt him?”

“You are getting on pretty fast, Lavinia, are you not?”

“Such things happen sometimes,” said the lady, nodding. “If it should
happen it would be bad for poor Lonny.”

“Even in that case Lonny won't have to go to the poor-house.”

“Mr. Pitkin, you don't realize the danger. Here's Uncle Oliver worth a
quarter of a million dollars, and it ought to be left to us.”

“Probably it will be.”

“He may leave it all to this boy. This must be prevented.”

“How?”

“You must say the boy doesn't suit you, and discharge him.”

“Well, well, give me time. I have no objection; but I suspect it will be
hard to find any fault with him. He looks like a reliable boy.”

“To me he looks like an artful young adventurer,” said Mrs. Pitkin
vehemently. “Depend upon it, Mr. Pitkin, he will spare no pains to
ingratiate himself into Uncle Oliver's favor.”

It will be seen that Mrs. Pitkin was gifted--if it can be called a
gift--with a very suspicious temperament. She was mean and grasping, and
could not bear the idea of even a small part of her uncle's money going
to any one except her own family. There was, indeed, another whose
relationship to Uncle Oliver was as close--a cousin, who had estranged
her relatives by marrying a poor bookkeeper, with whom she had gone to
Milwaukee. Her name was never mentioned in the Pitkin household, and
Mrs. Pitkin, trusting to the distance between them, did not apprehend
any danger from this source. Had she known Rebecca Forbush was even
now in New York, a widow with one child, struggling to make a living by
sewing and taking lodgers, she would have felt less tranquil. But
she knew nothing of all this, nor did she dream that the boy whom she
dreaded was the very next day to make the acquaintance of this despised
relation.

This was the way that it happened:

Phil soon tired of the room he had taken in Fifth Street. It was not
neatly kept, and was far from comfortable. Then again, he found that
the restaurants, cheap as they were, were likely to absorb about all his
salary, though the bill-of-fare was far from attractive.

Chance took him through a side-street, between Second and Third Avenues,
in the neighborhood of Thirteenth Street.

Among the three and four-story buildings that lined the block was one
frame-house, two-story-and-basement, on which he saw a sign, “Board
for Gentlemen.” He had seen other similar signs, but his attention was
specially drawn to this by seeing a pleasant-looking woman enter the
house with the air of proprietor. This woman recalled to Philip his own
mother, to whom she bore a striking resemblance.

“I would like to board with one whose face recalled that of my dear dead
mother,” thought Phil, and on the impulse of the moment, just after the
woman had entered, he rang the door-bell.

The door was opened almost immediately by the woman he had just seen
enter.

It seemed to Phil almost as if he were looking into his mother's face,
and he inquired in an unsteady voice:

“Do you take boarders?”

“Yes,” was the answer. “Won't you step in?”



CHAPTER XIII.

PHIL'S NEW HOME.

The house was poorly furnished with cheap furniture, but there was an
unexpected air of neatness about it. There is a great difference between
respectable and squalid poverty. It was the first of these that was
apparent in the small house in which our hero found himself.

“I am looking for a boarding-place,” said Philip. “I cannot afford to
pay a high price.”

“And I should not think of asking a high price for such plain
accommodations as I can offer,” said Mrs. Forbush. “What sort of a room
do you desire?”

“A small room will answer.”

“I have a hall-bedroom at the head of the stairs. Will you go up and
look at it?”

“I should like to do so.”

Mrs. Forbush led the way up a narrow staircase, and Philip followed her.

Opening the door of the small room referred to, she showed a neat bed, a
chair, a wash-stand, and a few hooks from which clothing might be hung.
It was plain enough, but there was an air of neatness which did not
characterize his present room.

“I like the room,” he said, brightening up. “How much do you charge for
this room and board?”

“Four dollars. That includes breakfast and supper,” answered Mrs.
Forbush. “Lunch you provide for yourself.”

“That will be satisfactory,” said Phil. “I am in a place down town, and
I could not come to lunch, at any rate.”

“When would you like to come, Mr.----?” said the widow interrogatively.

“My name is Philip Brent.”

“Mr. Brent.”

“I will come some time to-morrow.”

“Generally I ask a small payment in advance, as a guarantee that an
applicant will really come, but I am sure I can trust you.”

“Thank you, but I am quite willing to conform to your usual rule,” said
Phil, as he drew a two-dollar bill from his pocket and handed it to the
widow.

So they parted, mutually pleased. Phil's week at his present lodging
would not be up for several days, but he was tired of it, and felt that
he would be much more comfortable with Mrs. Forbush. So he was ready to
make the small pecuniary sacrifice needful.

The conversation which has been recorded took but five minutes, and did
not materially delay Phil, who, as I have already said, was absent from
the store on an errand.

The next day Phil became installed at his new boarding-place, and
presented himself at supper.

There were three other boarders, two being a young salesman at a Third
Avenue store and his wife. They occupied a square room on the same floor
with Phil. The other was a female teacher, employed in one of the city
public schools. The only remaining room was occupied by a drummer, who
was often called away for several days together. This comprised the
list of boarders, but Phil's attention was called to a young girl of
fourteen, of sweet and attractive appearance, whom he ascertained to be
a daughter of Mrs. Forbush. The young lady herself, Julia Forbush, cast
frequent glances at Phil, who, being an unusually good-looking boy,
would naturally excite the notice of a young girl.

On the whole, it seemed a pleasant and social circle, and Phil felt that
he had found a home.

The next day, as he was occupied in the store, next to G. Washington
Wilbur, he heard that young man say:

“Why, there's Mr. Carter coming into the store!”

Mr. Oliver Carter, instead of making his way directly to the office
where Mr. Pitkin was sitting, came up to where Phil was at work.

“How are you getting along, my young friend?” he asked familiarly.

“Very well, thank you, sir.”

“Do you find your duties very fatiguing?”

“Oh, no, sir. I have a comfortable time.”

“That's right. Work cheerfully and you will win the good opinion of your
employer. Don't forget to come up and see me soon.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“You seem to be pretty solid with the old man,” remarked Mr. Wilbur.

“We are on very good terms,” answered Phil, smiling.

“I wish you had introduced him to me,” said Wilbur.

“Don't you know him?” asked Phil, in surprise.

“He doesn't often come to the store, and when he does he generally
goes at once to the office, and the clerks don't have a chance to get
acquainted.”

“I should hardly like to take the liberty, then,” said Phil.

“Oh, keep him to yourself, then, if you want to,” said Mr. Wilbur,
evidently annoyed.

“I don't care to do that. I shall be entirely willing to introduce you
when there is a good chance.”

This seemed to appease Mr. Wilbur, who became once more gracious.

“Philip,” he said, as the hour of closing approached, “why can't you
come around and call upon me this evening?”

“So I will,” answered Phil readily.

Indeed, he found it rather hard to fill up his evenings, and was glad to
have a way suggested.

“Do. I want to tell you a secret.”

“Where do you live?” asked Phil.

“No.---- East Twenty-second Street.”

“All right. I will come round about half-past seven.”

Though Wilbur lived in a larger house than he, Phil did not like his
room as well. There being only one chair in the room, Mr. Wilbur put his
visitor in it, and himself sat on the bed.

There was something of a mystery in the young man's manner as, after
clearing his throat, he said to Phil:

“I am going to tell you a secret.”

Phil's curiosity was somewhat stirred, and he signified that he would
like to hear it.

“I have for some time wanted a confidant,” said Mr. Wilbur. “I did not
wish to trust a mere acquaintance, for--ahem!--the matter is quite a
delicate one.”

Phil regarded him with increased interest.

“I am flattered by your selecting me,” said he. “I will keep your
secret.”

“Phil,” said Mr. Wilbur, in a tragic tone, “you may be surprised to hear
that I am in LOVE!”

Phil started and wanted to laugh, but Mr. Wilbur's serious, earnest look
restrained him.

“Ain't you rather young?” he ventured to say.

“No; I am nineteen,” answered Mr. Wilbur.

“The heart makes no account of years.”

Whether this was original or borrowed, Phil could not tell.

“Have you been in love long?” asked Phil.

“Three weeks.”

“Does the lady know it?”

“Not yet,” returned Mr. Wilbur. “I have worshiped her from afar. I have
never even spoken to her.”

“Then the matter hasn't gone very far?”

“No, not yet.”

“Where did you meet her first?”

“In a Broadway stage.”

“What is her name?”

“I don't know.”

“You don't know much about her, then?”

“Yes; I know where she lives.”

“Where?”

“On Lexington Avenue.”

“Whereabouts?”

“Between Twenty-ninth and Thirtieth Streets. Would you like to see her
house?”

“Yes,” answered Phil, who saw that Mr. Wilbur wished him so to answer.

“Then come out. We might see her.”

The two boys--for Mr. Wilbur, though he considered himself a young man
of large experience, was really scarcely more than a boy--bent their
steps to Lexington Avenue, and walked in a northerly direction.

They had reached Twenty-eighth Street, when the door of house farther up
on the avenue was opened and a lady came out.

“That's she!” ejaculated Mr. Wilbur, clutching Phil by the arm.

Phil looked, and saw a tall young lady, three or four inches taller
than his friend and as many years older. He looked at his companion with
surprise.

“Is that the young lady you are in love with?” he asked.

“Yes; isn't she a daisy?” asked the lover fervently.

“I am not much of a judge of daisies,” answered Phil, a little
embarrassed, for the young lady had large features, and was, in his
eyes, very far from pretty.



CHAPTER XIV.

CONSULTING THE ORACLE.

Phil did not like to hurt the feelings of his companion, and refrained
from laughing, though with difficulty.

“She doesn't appear to know you,” he said.

“No,” said Wilbur; “I haven't had a chance to make myself known to her.”

“Do you think you can make a favorable impression upon--the daisy?”
 asked Phil, outwardly sober, but inwardly amused.

“I always had a taking way with girls,” replied Mr. Wilbur complacently.

Phil coughed. It was all that saved him from laughing.

While he was struggling with the inclination, the lady inadvertently
dropped a small parcel which she had been carrying in her hand. The two
boys were close behind. Like an arrow from the bow Mr. Wilbur sprang
forward, picked up the parcel, and while his heart beat wildly, said, as
he tendered it to the owner, with a graceful bow and captivating smile:

“Miss, I believe you dropped this.”

“Thank you, my good boy,” answered the daisy pleasantly.

Mr. Wilbur staggered back as if he had been struck. He fell back in
discomfiture, and his face showed the mortification and anguish he felt.

“Did you hear what she said?” he asked, in a hollow voice.

“She called you a boy, didn't she?”

“Yes,” answered Mr. Wilbur sadly.

“Perhaps she may be near-sighted,” said Phil consolingly.

“Do you think so?” asked Mr. Wilbur hopefully.

“It is quite possible. Then you are short, you know.”

“Yes, it must be so,” said G. Washington Wilbur, his face more serene.
“If she hadn't been she would have noticed my mustache.”

“True.”

“She spoke kindly. If--if she had seen how old I was, it would have been
different, don't you think so?”

“Yes, no doubt.”

“There is only one thing to do,” said Mr. Wilbur, in a tone of calm
resolve.

“What is that?” inquired Phil, in some curiosity.

“I must wear a stove-pipe hat! As you say, I am small, and a
near-sighted person might easily suppose me to be younger than I am.
Now, with a stove-pipe hat I shall look much older.”

“Yes, I presume so.”

“Then I can make her acquaintance again, and she will not mistake me.
Phil, why don't you wear a stove-pipe?”

“Because I don't want to look any older than I am. Besides, an
errand-boy wouldn't look well in a tall hat.”

“No, perhaps not.”

“And Mr. Pitkin would hardly like it.”

“Of course. When you are a salesman like me it will be different.”

Mr. Wilbur was beginning to recover his complacency, which had been so
rudely disturbed.

“I suppose you wouldn't think of marrying on your present salary?” said
Phil. “Six dollars a week wouldn't support a married pair very well.”

“The firm would raise my salary. They always do when a man marries.
Besides, I have other resources.”

“Indeed?”

“Yes; I am worth two thousand dollars. It was left me by an aunt, and is
kept in trust for me until I am twenty-one. I receive the interest now.”

“I congratulate you,” said Phil, who was really pleased to hear of his
companion's good fortune.

“That money will come in handy.”

“Besides, I expect SHE'S got money,” continued Mr. Wilbur. “Of course, I
love her for herself alone--I am not mercenary--still, it will be a help
when we are married.”

“So it will,” said Phil, amused at the confident manner in which Mr.
Wilbur spoke of marriage with a lady of whom he knew absolutely nothing.

“Philip,” said Mr. Wilbur, “when I marry, I want you to stand up with
me--to be my groomsman.”

“If I am in the city, and can afford to buy a dress-suit, I might
consent.”

“Thank you. You are a true friend!” said Mr. Wilbur, squeezing his hand
fervently.

The two returned to Mr. Wilbur's room and had a chat. At an early hour
Phil returned to his own boarding-place.

As time passed on, Phil and Wilbur spent considerable time together out
of the store. Mr. G. Washington Wilbur, apart from his amusing traits,
was a youth of good principles and good disposition, and Phil was glad
of his company. Sometimes they went to cheap amusements, but not often,
for neither had money to spare for such purposes.

Some weeks after Phil's entrance upon his duties Mr. Wilbur made a
proposal to Phil of a startling nature.

“Suppose we have our fortunes told, Phil?” he said.

“If it would help my fortune, or hurry it up, I shouldn't object,” said
Phil, smiling.

“I want to know what fate has in store for me,” said Wilbur.

“Do you think the fortune-tellers know any better than you do?” asked
Phil incredulously.

“They tell some strange things,” said Wilbur.

“What, for instance?”

“An aunt of mine went to a fortune-teller and asked if she would ever be
married, and when? She was told that she would be married before she was
twenty-two, to a tall, light-complexioned man.”

“Did it come true?”

“Yes, every word,” said Mr. Wilbur solemnly. “She was married three
months before her twenty-second birthday, and her husband was just the
kind of man that was predicted. Wasn't that strange?”

“The fortune-teller might easily have guessed all that. Most girls are
married as young as that.”

“But not to tall, light-complexioned men!” said Wilbur triumphantly.

“Is there anything you wish particularly to know?” asked Phil.

“I should like to know if I am going to marry--you know who.”

“The daisy?”

“Yes.”

Phil was not much in favor of the scheme, but finally agreed to it.

There was a certain “Veiled Lady,” who advertised her qualifications in
the Herald, as the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, and therefore
gifted with the power to read the future. Mr. Wilbur made choice of her,
and together they went to call upon her one evening.

They were shown into an anteroom, and in due time Mr. Wilbur was called
into the dread presence. He was somewhat nervous and agitated, but
“braced up,” as he afterward expressed it, and went in. He wanted Phil
to go in with him, but the attendant said that madam would not allow it,
and he went forward alone.

Fifteen minutes afterward he re-entered the room with a radiant face.

“Have you heard good news?” asked Phil.

Mr. Wilbur nodded emphatically and whispered, for there were two others
in waiting:

“It's all right. I am to marry her.”

“Did the fortune-teller say so?”

“Yes.”

“Did she give her name?”

“No, but she described her so that I knew her at once.”

“Will it be soon?” asked Phil slyly.

“Not till I am twenty-four,” answered Mr. Wilbur soberly. “But perhaps
she may be mistaken about that. Perhaps she thought I was older than I
am.”

“Do you doubt her knowledge, then?”

“No; at any rate, I can wait, since she is to be mine at last. Besides,
I am to be rich. When I am thirty years old I am to be worth twenty
thousand dollars.”

“I congratulate you, Wilbur,” said Phil, smiling. “You are all right, at
least.”

“The next gentleman!” said the attendant.

Phil entered the inner room, and looked about him in curiosity.

A tall woman sat upon a sort of throne, with one hand resting on a table
beside her. A tall wax-taper supplied the place of the light of day,
which was studiously excluded from the room by thick, dark curtains.
Over the woman's face was a black veil, which gave her an air of
mystery.

“Come hither, boy!” she said, in a clear, commanding voice.

Phil advanced, not wholly unimpressed, though he felt skeptical.

The woman bent forward, starting slightly and scanned his face eagerly.



CHAPTER XV.

PHIL AND THE FORTUNE-TELLER.

“Do you wish to hear of the past or the future?” asked the
fortune-teller.

“Tell me something of the past,” said Phil, with a view of testing the
knowledge of the seeress.

“You have left an uncongenial home to seek your fortune in New York.
You left without regret, and those whom you have left behind do not miss
you.”

Phil started in amazement. This was certainly true.

“Shall I find the fortune I seek?” asked our hero earnestly.

“Yes, but not in the way you expect. You think yourself alone in the
world!”

The fortune-teller paused, and looked searchingly at the boy.

“So I am,” returned Phil.

“No boy who has a father living can consider himself alone.”

“My father is dead!” returned Phil, growing skeptical.

“You are mistaken.”

“I am not likely to be mistaken in such a matter. My father died a few
months since.”

“Your father still lives!” said the fortune-teller sharply. “Do not
contradict me!”

“I don't see how you can say that. I attended his funeral.”

“You attended the funeral of the man whose name you bear. He was not
your father.”

Phil was much excited by this confirmation of his step-mother's story.
He had entertained serious doubts of its being true, thinking it might
have been trumped up by Mrs. Brent to drive him from home, and interfere
with his succession to any part of Mr. Brent's property.

“Is my step-mother's story true, then?” he asked breathlessly. “She told
me I was not the son of Mr. Brent.”

“Her story was true,” said the veiled lady.

“Who is my real father, then?”

The lady did not immediately reply. She seemed to be peering into
distant space, as she said slowly:

“I see a man of middle size, dark-complexioned, leading a small child by
the hand. He pauses before a house--it looks like an inn. A lady comes
out from the inn. She is kindly of aspect. She takes the child by the
hand and leads him into the inn. Now I see the man go away--alone. The
little child remains behind. I see him growing up. He has become a
large boy, but the scene has changed. The inn has disappeared. I see a
pleasant village and a comfortable house. The boy stands at the door.
He is well-grown now. A lady stands on the threshold as his steps turn
away. She is thin and sharp-faced. She is not like the lady who
welcomed the little child. Can you tell me who this boy is?” asked the
fortune-teller, fixing her eyes upon Phil.

“It is myself!” he answers, his flushed face showing the excitement he
felt.

“You have said!”

“I don't know how you have learned all this,” said Phil, “but it is
wonderfully exact. Will you answer a question?”

“Ask!”

“You say my father--my real father--is living?”

The veiled lady bowed her head.

“Where is he?”

“That I cannot say, but he is looking for you.”

“He is in search of me?”

“Yes.”

“Why has he delayed it so long?”

“There are circumstances which I cannot explain which have prevented his
seeking and claiming you.”

“Will he do so?”

“I have told you that he is now seeking for you. I think he will find
you at last.”

“What can I do to bring this about?”

“Do nothing! Stay where you are. Circumstances are working favorably,
but you must wait. There are some drawbacks.”

“What are they?”

“You have two enemies, or rather one, for the other does not count.”

“Is that enemy a man?”

“No, it is a woman.”

“My step-mother!” ejaculated Phil, with immediate conviction.

“You have guessed aright.”

“And who is the other?”

“A boy.”

“Jonas?”

“It is the son of the woman whom you call your step-mother.”

“What harm can they do me? I am not afraid of them,” said Phil, raising
his head proudly.

“Do not be too confident! The meanest are capable of harm. Mrs. Brent
does not like you because she is a mother.”

“She fears that I will interfere with her son.”

“You are all right.”

“Is there anything more you can tell me?” asked Phil. “Have I any other
enemies?”

“Yes; there are two more--also a woman and her son.”

“That puzzles me. I can think of no one.”

“They live in the city.”

“I know. It is Mrs. Pitkin, my employer's wife. Why should she dislike
me?”

“There is an old man who likes you. That is the cause.”

“I see. She doesn't want him to be kind to any one out of the family.”

“That is all I have to tell you,” said the fortune-teller abruptly. “You
can go.”

“You have told me strange things,” said Phil. “Will you tell me how it
is you know so much about a stranger?”

“I have nothing more to tell you. You can go!” said the veiled lady
impatiently.

“At least tell me how much I am to pay you.”

“Nothing.”

“But I thought you received fees.”

“Not from you.”

“Did you not take something from my friend who was in here before me?”

“Yes.”

“You told him a good fortune.”

“He is a fool!” said the fortune-teller contemptuously. “I saw what he
wanted and predicted it.”

She waved her hand, and Phil felt that he had no excuse for remaining
longer.

He left the room slowly, and found Mr. Wilbur anxiously awaiting him.

“What did she tell you, Phil?” he asked eagerly. “Did she tell you what
sort of a wife you would have?”

“No. I didn't ask her,” answered Phil, smiling.

“I should think you'd want to know. What did she tell you, then?”

“She told me quite a number of things about my past life and the events
of my childhood.”

“I shouldn't have cared about that,” said Wilbur, shrugging his
shoulders. “Why, I know all about that myself. What I want to know about
is, whether I am to marry the girl I adore.”

“But you see, Wilbur, I don't adore anybody. I am not in love as you
are.”

“Of course that makes a difference,” said Wilbur. “I'm glad I came,
Phil. Ain't you?”

“Yes,” answered Phil slowly.

“You see, it's such a satisfaction to know that all is coming right
at last. I am to marry HER, you know, and although it isn't till I am
twenty-four----”

“She will be nearly thirty by that time,” said Phil slyly.

“She won't look it!” said Mr. Wilbur, wincing a little. “When I am
thirty I shall be worth twenty thousand dollars.”

“You can't save it very soon out of six dollars a week.”

“That is true. I feel sure I shall be raised soon. Did the
fortune-teller say anything about your getting rich?”

“No. I can't remember that she did. Oh, yes! she said I would make my
fortune, but not in the way I expected.”

“That is queer!” said Mr. Wilbur, interested. “What could she mean?”

“I suppose she meant that I would not save a competence out of five
dollars a week.”

“Maybe so.”

“I have been thinking, Wilbur, you have an advantage over the young lady
you are to marry. You know that you are to marry her, but she doesn't
know who is to be her husband.”

“That is true,” said Wilbur seriously. “If I can find out her name, I
will write her an anonymous letter, asking her to call on the veiled
Lady.”



CHAPTER XVI.

MRS. BRENT'S STRANGE TEMPTATION.

Now that Phil is fairly established in the city, circumstances require
us to go back to the country town which he had once called home.

Mrs. Brent is sitting, engaged with her needle, in the same room where
she had made the important revelation to Phil.

Jonas entered the house, stamping the snow from his boots.

“Is supper most ready, mother?” he asked.

“No, Jonas; it is only four o'clock,” replied Mrs. Brent.

“I'm as hungry as a bear. I guess it's the skating.”

“I wish you would go to the post-office before supper, Jonas. There
might be a letter.”

“Do you expect to hear from Phil?”

“He said nothing about writing,” said Mrs. Brent indifferently. “He will
do as he pleases about it.”

“I did'nt know but he would be writing for money,” chuckled Jonas.

“If he did, I would send him some,” said Mrs. Brent.

“You would!” repeated Jonas, looking at his mother in surprise.

“Yes, I would send him a dollar or two, so that people needn't talk. It
is always best to avoid gossip.”

“Are you expecting a letter from anybody, mother?” asked Jonas, after a
pause.

“I dreamed last night I should receive an important letter,” said Mrs.
Brent.

“With money in it?” asked Jonas eagerly.

“I don't know.”

“If any such letter comes, will you give me some of the money?”

“If you bring me a letter containing money,” said Mrs. Brent, “I will
give you a dollar.”

“Enough said!” exclaimed Jonas, who was fond of money; “I'm off to the
post-office at once.”

Mrs. Brent let the work fall into her lap and looked intently before
her. A flush appeared on her pale face, and she showed signs of
restlessness.

“It is strange,” she said to herself, “how I have allowed myself to be
affected by that dream. I am not superstitious, but I cannot get over
the idea that a letter will reach me to-night, and that it will have
an important bearing upon my life. I have a feeling, too, that it will
relate to the boy Philip.”

She rose from her seat and began to move about the room. It was a
relief to her in the restless state of her mind. She went to the window
to look for Jonas, and her excitement rose as she saw him approaching.
When he saw his mother looking from the window, he held aloft a letter.

“The letter has come,” she said, her heart beating faster than its wont.
“It is an important letter. How slow Jonas is.”

And she was inclined to be vexed at the deliberation with which her son
was advancing toward the house.

But he came at last.

“Well, mother, I've got a letter--a letter from Philadelphia,” he said.
“It isn't from Phil, for I know his writing.”

“Give it to me, Jonas,” said his mother, outwardly calm, but inwardly
excited.

“Do you know any one in Philadelphia, mother?”

“No.”

She cut open the envelope and withdrew the inclosed sheet.

“Is there any money in it?” asked Jonas eagerly.

“No.”

“Just my luck!” said Jonas sullenly.

“Wait a minute,” said his mother. “If the letter is really important,
I'll give you twenty-five cents.”

She read the letter, and her manner soon showed that she was deeply
interested.

We will look over her shoulders and read it with her:


“CONTINENTAL HOTEL, PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 5.

“DEAR MADAM:--

“I write to you on a matter of the greatest importance to my happiness,
and shall most anxiously await your reply. I would come to you in
person, but am laid up with an attack of rheumatism, and my physician
forbids me to travel.

“You are, as I have been informed, the widow of Gerald Brent, who
thirteen years since kept a small hotel in the small village of
Fultonville, in Ohio. At that date I one day registered myself as his
guest. I was not alone. My only son, then a boy of three, accompanied
me. My wife was dead, and my affections centered upon this child.
Yet the next morning I left him under the charge of yourself and your
husband, and pursued my journey. From that day to this I have not seen
the boy, nor have I written to you or Mr. Brent. This seems strange,
does it not? It requires an explanation, and that explanation I am ready
to give.

“To be brief, then, I was fleeing from undeserved suspicion.
Circumstances which I need not detail had connected my name with the
mysterious disappearance of a near friend, and the fact that a trifling
dispute between us had taken place in the presence of witnesses had
strengthened their suspicions. Knowing myself to be innocent, but
unable to prove it, I fled, taking my child with me. When I reached
Fultonville, I became alive to the ease with which I might be traced,
through the child's companionship. There was no resource but to leave
him. Your husband and yourself impressed me as kind and warm-hearted.
I was specially impressed by the gentleness with which you treated my
little Philip, and I felt that to you I could safely trust him. I did
not, however, dare to confide my secret to any one. I simply said I
would leave the boy with you till he should recover from his temporary
indisposition, and then, with outward calmness but inward anguish, I
left my darling, knowing not if I should ever see him again.

“Well, time passed. I went to Nevada, changed my name, invested the
slender sum I had with me in mining, and, after varying fortune, made
a large fortune at last. But better fortune still awaited me. In a poor
mining hut, two months since, I came across a man who confessed that he
was guilty of the murder of which I had been suspected. His confession
was reduced in writing, sworn to before a magistrate, and now at last
I feel myself a free man. No one now could charge me with a crime from
which my soul revolted.

“When this matter was concluded, my first thought was of the boy whom I
had not seen for thirteen long years. I could claim him now before all
the world; I could endow him with the gifts of fortune; I could bring
him up in luxury, and I could satisfy a father's affectionate longing. I
could not immediately ascertain where you were. I wrote to Fultonville,
to the postmaster, and learned that you and Mr. Brent had moved away and
settled down in Gresham, in the State of New York. I learned also that
my Philip was still living, but other details I did not learn. But I
cared not, so long as my boy still lived.

“And now you may guess my wish and my intention. I shall pay you
handsomely for your kind care of Philip, but I must have my boy back
again. We have been separated too long. I can well understand that you
are attached to him, and I will find a home for you and Mr. Brent near
my own, where you can see as often as you like the boy whom you have so
tenderly reared. Will you do me the favor to come at once, and bring
the boy with you? The expenses of your journey shall, of course,
be reimbursed, and I will take care that the pecuniary part of my
obligations to you shall be amply repaid. I have already explained why I
cannot come in person to claim my dear child.

“Telegraph to me when you will reach Philadelphia, and I will engage
a room for you. Philip will stay with me.

“Yours gratefully,

“OSCAR GRANVILLE.”


“Mother, here is a slip of paper that has dropped from the letter,” said
Jonas.

He picked up and handed to his mother a check on a Philadelphia bank for
the sum of one hundred dollars.

“Why, that's the same as money, isn't it?” asked Jonas.

“Yes, Jonas.”

“Then you'll keep your promise, won't you?”

Mrs. Brent silently drew from her pocket-book a two-dollar bill and
handed it to Jonas.

“Jonas,” she said, “if you won't breathe a word of it, I will tell you a
secret.”

“All right, mother.”

“We start for Philadelphia to-morrow.”

“By gosh! that's jolly,” exclaimed Jonas, overjoyed. “I'll keep mum.
What was in the letter, mother?”

“I will not tell you just now. You shall know very soon.”

Mrs. Brent did not sleep much that night. Her mind was intent upon a
daring scheme of imposture. Mr. Granville was immensely wealthy, no
doubt. Why should she not pass off Jonas upon him as his son Philip, and
thus secure a fortune for her own child?



CHAPTER XVII.

JONAS JOINS THE CONSPIRACY.

Later in the evening Mrs. Brent took Jonas into her confidence. She
was a silent, secretive woman by nature, and could her plan have been
carried out without imparting it to any one, she would gladly have had
it so. But Jonas must be her active accomplice, and it was as well to
let him know at once what he must do.

In the evening, when Jonas, tired with his day's skating, was lying on
the lounge, Mrs. Brent rose deliberately from her seat, peeped into
the adjoining room, then went to each window to make sure there was no
eavesdropper, then resumed her seat and said:

“Jonas, get up. I want to speak to you.”

“I am awfully tired, mother. I can hear you while I lie here.”

“Jonas, do you hear me? I am about to speak to you of something no other
person must hear. Get a chair and draw it close to mine.”

Jonas rose, his curiosity stimulated by his mother's words and manner.

“Is it about the letter, mother?” he asked.

“Yes, it relates to the letter and our journey to-morrow.”

Jonas had wondered what the letter was about and who had sent his mother
the hundred-dollar check, and he made no further objection. He drew a
chair in front of his mother and said:

“Go ahead, mother, I'm listening.”

“Would you like to be rich, Jonas?” asked Mrs. Brent.

“Wouldn't I?”

“Would you like to be adopted by a very rich man, have a pony to ride,
plenty of pocket-money, fine clothes and in the end a large fortune?”

“That would just suit me, mother,” answered the boy eagerly. “Is there
any chance of it?”

“Yes, if you follow my directions implicitly.”

“I will, mother,” said Jonas, his eyes shining with desire. “Only tell
me what to do and I'll do it.”

“Do you remember what I told Philip the evening before he went away?”

“About his being left at Mr. Brent's hotel? Yes, I remember it.”

“And about his true father having disappeared?”

“Yes, yes.”

“Jonas, the letter I received this afternoon was from Philip's real
father.”

“By gosh!” ejaculated Jonas, altering his usual expression of surprise.

“He is in Philadelphia. He is a very rich man.”

“Then Phil will be rich,” said Jonas, disappointed. “I thought you said
it would be me.”

“Philip's father has never seen him since he was three years old,”
 continued Mrs. Brent, taking no notice of her son's tone.

“What difference does that make, mother?”

“Jonas,” said Mrs. Brent, bending toward her son, “if I choose to
tell him that you are Philip, he won't know the difference. Do you
understand?”

Jonas did understand.

“That's a bully idea, mother! Can we pull the wool over the old man's
eyes, do you think?”

“I wish you would not use such expressions, Jonas. They are not
gentlemanly, and you are to be a young gentleman.”

“All right, mother.”

“We can manage it if you are very careful. It is worth the trouble,
Jonas. I think Mr. Granville--that is his name--must be worth a quarter
of a million dollars, and if he takes you for Philip the whole will
probably go to you.”

“What a head you've got, mother!” exclaimed Jonas admiringly. “It is a
tip-top chance.”

“Yes, it is one chance in ten thousand. But you must do just as I tell
you.”

“Oh, I'll do that, mother. What must I do?”

“To begin with, you must take Philip's name. You must remember that you
are no longer Jonas Webb, but Philip Brent.”

“That'll be a bully joke!” said Jonas, very much amused. “What would
Phil say if he knew I had taken his name?”

“He must not know. Henceforth we must endeavor to keep out of his way.
Again, you must consider me your step-mother, not your own mother.”

“Yes, I understand. What are you going to do first, mother?”

“We start for Philadelphia to-morrow. Your father is lying sick at the
Continental Hotel.”

Jonas roared with delight at the manner in which his mother spoke of the
sick stranger.

“Oh, it'll be fun, mother! Shall we live in Philadelphia?”

“I don't know. That will be as Mr. Granville thinks best.”

“Where are you going, mother? Are you going to live here?”

“Of course I shall be with you. I will make that a condition. I cannot
be parted from my only boy.”

“But I shall be Mr. Granville's boy.”

“To the public you will be. But when we are together in private, we
shall be once more mother and son.”

“I am afraid you will spoil all,” said Jonas. “Old Granville will
suspect something if you seem to care too much for me.”

The selfish nature of Jonas was cropping out, and his mother felt, with
a pang, that he would be reconciled to part with her forever for
the sake of the brilliant prospects and the large fortune which Mr.
Granville could offer him.

She was outwardly cold, but such affection as she was capable of she
expended on this graceless and ungrateful boy.

“You seem to forget that I may have some feeling in the matter,” said
Mrs. Brent coldly, but with inward pain. “If the result of this plan
were to be that we should be permanently separated, I would never
consent to it.”

“Just as you like, mother,” said Jonas, with an ill grace. “I don't look
much like Phil.”

“No, there will be a difficulty. Still Mr. Granville has never seen
Philip since he was three years old, and that is in our favor. He thinks
I am Mr. Brent's first wife.”

“Shall you tell him?”

“I don't know. I will be guided by circumstances. Perhaps it may be
best. I wouldn't like to have it discovered that I had deceived him in
that.”

“How are you going to manage about this place, mother?”

“I am going to write to your Uncle Jonas to take charge of it. I will
let him have it at a nominal rent. Then, if our plan miscarries we shall
have a place to come back to.”

“Were you ever in Philadelphia, mother?”

“No; but there will be no trouble in journeying there. I shall pack
your clothes and my own to-night. Of course, Jonas, when you meet Mr.
Granville you must seem to be fond of him. Then you must tell him how
kind I have been to you. In fact, you must act precisely as Philip might
be expected to do.”

“Yes, mother; and you must be careful not to call me Jonas. That will
spoil all, you know.”

“Rest assured that I shall be on my guard. If you are as careful as I
am, Philip----”

Jonas burst into a guffaw at the new name.

“It's just like play-acting, mother,” he said.

“But it will pay better,” said Mrs. Brent quietly. “I think it will be
best for me to begin calling you Philip at once--that is, as soon as we
have left town--so that we may both get accustomed to it.”

“All right, mother. You've got a good headpiece.”

“I will manage things properly. If you consent to be guided by me, all
will be right.”

“Oh, I'll do it mother. I wish we were on our way.”

“You can go to bed if you like. I must stay up late to-night. I have to
pack our trunks.”

The next day the pair of adventurers left Gresham. From the earliest
available point Mrs. Brent telegraphed to Mr. Granville that she was on
her way, with the son from whom he had so long been separated.



CHAPTER XVIII.

THE CONSPIRACY SUCCEEDS.

In a handsome private parlor at the Continental Hotel a man of about
forty-five years of age sat in an easy-chair. He was of middle height,
rather dark complexion, and a pleasant expression. His right foot was
bandaged, and rested on a chair. The morning Daily Ledger was in his
hand, but he was not reading. His mind, judging from his absorbed look,
was occupied with other thoughts.

“I can hardly realize,” he said half-aloud, “that my boy will so soon
be restored to my arms. We have been separated by a cruel fate, but we
shall soon be together again. I remember how the dear child looked when
I left him at Fultonville in the care of the kind inn-keeper. I am
sorry he is dead, but his widow shall be suitably repaid for her kind
devotion.”

He had reached this point when a knock was heard at the door.

“Come in!” said Mr. Granville.

A servant of the hotel appeared.

“A lady and a boy are in the parlor below, sir. They wish to see you.”

Though Mr. Granville had considerable control over his feelings, his
heart beat fast when he heard these words.

“Will you show them up at once?” he said, in a tone which showed some
trace of agitation.

The servant bore the message to Mrs. Brent and Jonas, who were sitting
in the hotel parlor.

If Mr. Granville was agitated, the two conspirators were not wholly at
their ease. There was a red spot on each of Mrs. Brent's cheeks--her
way of expressing emotion--and Jonas was fidgeting about uneasily in his
chair, staring about him curiously.

“Mind what I told you,” said his mother, in a low voice. “Remember to
act like a boy who has suddenly been restored to his long-lost father.
Everything depends on first impressions.”

“I wish it was all over; I wish I was out of it,” said Jonas, wiping the
perspiration from his face. “Suppose he suspects?”

“He won't if you do as I tell you. Don't look gawky, but act naturally.”

Just then the servant reappeared.

“You are to come up-stairs,” he said. “The gentleman will see you.”

“Thank you,” said Mrs. Brent, rising. “Come.”

Jonas rose, and with the manner of a cur that expected a whipping,
followed his mother and the servant.

“It's only one flight,” said the servant, “but we can take the
elevator.”

“It is of no consequence,” Mrs. Brent began, but Jonas said eagerly:

“Let's ride on the elevator, ma!”

“Very well, Philip,” said Mrs. Brent.

A minute later the two stood at the door of Mr. Granville's room. Next
they stood in his presence.

Mr. Granville, looking eagerly toward the door, passed over Mrs. Brent,
and his glance rested on the boy who followed her. He started, and there
was a quick feeling of disappointment. He had been picturing to himself
how his lost boy would look, but none of his visions resembled the
awkward-looking boy who stood sheepishly by the side of Mrs. Brent.

“Mr. Granville, I presume,” said the lady.

“Yes, madam. You are----”

“Mrs. Brent, and this,” pointing to Jonas, “is the boy you left at
Fultonville thirteen years ago. Philip, go to your father.”

Jonas advanced awkwardly to Mr. Granville's chair, and said in
parrot-like tones:

“I'm so glad to see you, pa!”

“And you are really Philip?” said Mr. Granville slowly.

“Yes, I'm Philip Brent; but I suppose my name is Granville now.”

“Come here, my boy!”

Mr. Granville drew the boy to him, and looked earnestly in his face,
then kissed him affectionately.

“He has changed since he was a little child, Mrs. Brent,” he said, with
a half-sigh.

“That's to be expected, sir. He was only three years old when you left
him with us.”

“But it seems to me that his hair and complexion are lighter.”

“You can judge of that better than I,” said Mrs. Brent plausibly. “To
me, who have seen him daily, the change was not perceptible.”

“I am greatly indebted to you for your devoted care--to you and your
husband. I am grieved to hear that Mr. Brent is dead.”

“Yes, sir; he left me six months since. It was a grievous loss. Ah, sir,
when I give up Philip also, I shall feel quite alone in the world,” and
she pressed a handkerchief to her eyes. “You see, I have come to look
upon him as my own boy!”

“My dear madam, don't think that I shall be so cruel as to take him from
you. Though I wish him now to live with me, you must accompany him. My
home shall be yours if you are willing to accept a room in my house and
a seat at my table.”

“Oh, Mr. Granville, how can I thank you for your great kindness? Ever
since I received your letter I have been depressed with the thought
that I should lose dear Philip. If I had a child of my own it would be
different; but, having none, my affections are centered upon him.”

“And very naturally,” said Mr. Granville. “We become attached to those
whom we benefit. Doubtless he feels a like affection for you. You love
this good lady, Philip, who has supplied to you the place of your own
mother, who died in your infancy, do you not?”

“Yes, sir,” answered Jonas stolidly. “But I want to live with my pa!”

“To be sure you shall. My boy, we have been separated too long already.
Henceforth we will live together, and Mrs. Brent shall live with us.”

“Where do you live, pa?” asked Jonas.

“I have a country-seat a few miles from Chicago,” answered Mr.
Granville. “We will go there as soon as I am well enough. I ought to
apologize, Mrs. Brent, for inviting you up to my room, but my rheumatism
makes me a prisoner.”

“I hope your rheumatism will soon leave you, sir.”

“I think it will. I have an excellent physician, and already I am much
better. I may, however, have to remain here a few days yet.”

“And where do you wish Philip and I to remain in the meantime?”

“Here, of course. Philip, will you ring the bell?”

“I don't see any bell,” answered Jonas, bewildered.

“Touch that knob!”

Jonas did so.

“Will that ring the bell?” he asked curiously.

“Yes, it is an electric bell.”

“By gosh!” ejaculated Jonas.

“Don't use such language, Philip!” said Mrs. Brent hastily. “Your father
will be shocked. You see, Mr. Granville, Philip has associated with
country boys, and in spite of my care, he has adopted some of their
language.”

Mr. Granville himself was rather disturbed by this countrified
utterance, and it occurred to him that his new-found son needed
considerable polishing.

“Ah, I quite understand that, Mrs. Brent,” he said courteously. “He is
young yet, and there will be plenty of time for him to get rid of any
objectionable habits and phrases.”

Here the servant appeared.

“Tell the clerk to assign this lady and the boy rooms on this floor if
any are vacant. Mrs. Brent, Philip may have a room next to you for the
present. When I am better I will have him with me. John, is dinner on
the table?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then, after taking possession of your rooms, you and Philip had better
go to dinner. I will send for him later.”

“Thank you, sir.”

As Mrs. Brent was ushered into her handsome apartment her face was
radiant with joy and exultation.

“All has gone well!” she said. “The most difficult part is over.”



CHAPTER XIX.

A NARROW ESCAPE FROM DETECTION.

The conspiracy into which Mrs. Brent had entered was a daring one, and
required great coolness and audacity. But the inducements were great,
and for her son's sake she decided to carry it through. Of course it
was necessary that she should not be identified with any one who could
disclose to Mr. Granville the deceit that was being practiced upon him.
Circumstances lessened the risk of detection, since Mr. Granville was
confined to his room in the hotel, and for a week she and Jonas went
about the city alone.

One day she had a scare.

She was occupying a seat in a Chestnut Street car, while Jonas stood
in front with the driver, when a gentleman whom she had not observed,
sitting at the other end of the car, espied her.

“Why, Mrs. Brent, how came you here?” he asked, in surprise, crossing
over and taking a seat beside her.

Her color went and came as, in a subdued tone, she answered.

“I am in Philadelphia on a little visit, Mr. Pearson.”

“Are you not rather out of your latitude?” asked the gentleman.

“Yes, perhaps so.”

“How is Mr. Brent?”

“Did you not hear that he was dead?”

“No, indeed! I sympathize with you in your sad loss.”

“Yes,” sighed the widow. “It is a great loss to us.”

“I suppose Jonas is a large boy now,” said the other. “I haven't seen
him for two or three years.”

“Yes, he has grown,” said the widow briefly. She hoped that Mr. Pearson
would not discover that Jonas was with her, as she feared that the boy
might betray them unconsciously.

“Is he with you?”

“Yes.”

“Do you stay long in Philadelphia?”

“No, I think not,” answered Mrs. Brent.

“I go back to New York this afternoon, or I would ask permission to call
on you.”

Mrs. Brent breathed more freely. A call at the hotel was by all means to
be avoided.

“Of course I should have been glad to see you,” she answered, feeling
quite safe in saying so. “Are you going far?”

“I get out at Thirteenth Street.”

“Thank Heaven!” said Mrs. Brent to herself. “Then he won't discover
where we are.”

The Continental Hotel is situated at the corner of Chestnut and Ninth
Streets, and Mrs. Brent feared that Jonas would stop the car at that
point. As it was, the boy did not observe that his mother had met an
acquaintance, so intent was he on watching the street sights.

When they reached Ninth Street mother and son got out and entered the
hotel.

“I guess I'll stay down stairs awhile,” said Jonas.

“No, Philip, I have something to say to you. Come up with me.”

“I want to go into the billiard-room,” said Jonas, grumbling.

“It is very important,” said Mrs. Brent emphatically.

Now the curiosity of Jonas was excited, and he followed his mother into
the elevator, for their rooms were on the third floor.

“Well, mother, what is it?” asked Jonas, when the door of his mother's
room was closed behind them.

“I met a gentleman who knew me in the horse-car,” said Mrs. Brent
abruptly.

“Did you? Who was it?”

“Mr. Pearson.”

“He used to give me candy. Why didn't you call me?”

“It is important that we should not be recognized,” said his mother.
“While we stay here we must be exceedingly prudent. Suppose he had
called upon us at the hotel and fallen in with Mr. Granville. He might
have told him that you are my son, and that your name is Jonas, not
Philip.”

“Then the fat would be in the fire!” said Jonas.

“Exactly so; I am glad you see the danger. Now I want you to stay here,
or in your own room, for the next two or three hours.”

“It'll be awfully tiresome,” grumbled Jonas.

“It is necessary,” said his mother firmly. “Mr. Pearson leaves for New
York by an afternoon train. It is now only two o'clock. He left the
car at Thirteenth Street, and might easily call at this hotel. It is a
general rendezvous for visitors to the city. If he should meet you down
stairs, he would probably know you, and his curiosity would be aroused.
He asked me where I was staying, but I didn't appear to hear the
question.”

“That's pretty hard on me, ma.”

“I am out of all patience with you,” said Mrs. Brent. “Am I not working
for your interest, and you are doing all you can to thwart my plans. If
you don't care anything about inheriting a large fortune, let it go! We
can go back to Gresham and give it all up.”

“I'll do as you say, ma,” said Jonas, subdued.

The very next day Mr. Granville sent for Mrs. Brent. She lost no time in
waiting upon him.

“Mrs. Brent,” he said, “I have decided to leave Philadelphia to-morrow.”

“Are you quite able, sir?” she asked, with a good assumption of
sympathy.

“My doctor tells me I may venture. We shall travel in Pullman cars,
you know. I shall secure a whole compartment, and avail myself of every
comfort and luxury which money can command.”

“Ah, sir! money is a good friend in such a case.”

“True, Mrs. Brent. I have seen the time when I was poorly supplied with
it. Now I am happily at ease. Can you and Philip be ready?”

“Yes, Mr. Granville,” answered Mrs. Brent promptly. “We are ready
to-day, for that matter. We shall both be glad to get started.”

“I am glad to hear it. I think Philip will like his Western home.
I bought a fine country estate of a Chicago merchant, whose failure
compelled him to part with it. Philip shall have his own horse and his
own servants.”

“He will be delighted,” said Mrs. Brent warmly. “He has been used to
none of these things, for Mr. Brent and I, much as we loved him, had not
the means to provide him with such luxuries.”

“Yes, Mrs. Brent, I understand that fully. You were far from rich. Yet
you cared for my boy as if he were your own.”

“I loved him as much as if he had been my own son, Mr. Granville.”

“I am sure you did. I thank Providence that I am able to repay to some
extent the great debt I have incurred. I cannot repay it wholly, but
I will take care that you, too, shall enjoy ease and luxury. You shall
have one of the best rooms in my house, and a special servant to wait
upon you.”

“Thank you, Mr. Granville,” said Mrs. Brent, her heart filled with proud
anticipations of the state in which she should hereafter live. “I do not
care where you put me, so long as you do not separate me from Philip.”

“She certainly loves my son!” said Mr. Granville to himself. “Yet her
ordinary manner is cold and constrained, and she does not seem like a
woman whose affections would easily be taken captive. Yet Philip seems
to have found the way to her heart. It must be because she has had so
much care of him. We are apt to love those whom we benefit.”

But though Mr. Granville credited Mrs. Brent with an affection for
Philip, he was uneasily conscious that the boy's return had not brought
him the satisfaction and happiness he had fondly anticipated.

To begin with, Philip did not look at all as he had supposed his son
would look. He did not look like the Granvilles at all. Indeed, he had
an unusually countrified aspect, and his conversation was mingled with
rustic phrases which shocked his father's taste.

“I suppose it comes of the way in which he has been brought up and
the country boys he has associated with,” thought Mr. Granville.
“Fortunately he is young, and there is time to polish him. As soon as I
reach Chicago I will engage a private tutor for him, who shall not only
remedy his defects of education, but do what he can to improve my son's
manners. I want him to grow up a gentleman.”

The next day the three started for Chicago, while Mr. Granville's real
son and heir continued to live at a cheap lodging-house in New York.

The star of Jonas was in the ascendant, while poor Philip seemed
destined to years of poverty and hard work. Even now, he was threatened
by serious misfortune.



CHAPTER XX.

LEFT OUT IN THE COLD.

Of course Phil was utterly ignorant of the audacious attempt to deprive
him of his rights and keep him apart from the father who longed once
more to meet him. There was nothing before him so far as he knew except
to continue the up-hill struggle for a living.

He gave very little thought to the prediction of the fortune-teller whom
he had consulted, and didn't dream of any short-cut to fortune.

Do all he could, he found he could not live on his wages.

His board cost him four dollars a week, and washing and lunch two
dollars more, thus compelling him to exceed his salary by a dollar each
week.

He had, as we know, a reserve fund, on which he could draw, but it
was small, and grew constantly smaller. Then, again, his clothes were
wearing out, and he saw no way of obtaining money to buy new.

Phil became uneasy, and the question came up to his mind, “Should he
write to his step-mother and ask her for a trifling loan?” If the money
had been hers, he would not have done so on any condition; but she had
had nothing of her own, and all the property in her hands came through
Mr. Brent, who, as he knew, was attached to him, even though no tie of
blood united them. He certainly meant that Phil should be cared for out
of the estate, and at length Phil brought himself to write the following
letter:

“NEW YORK, March 10, 18--.

“DEAR MRS. BRENT: I suppose I ought to have written you before, and
have no good excuse to offer. I hope you and Jonas are well, and will
continue so. Let me tell you how I have succeeded thus far.

“I have been fortunate enough to obtain a place in a large mercantile
establishment, and for my services I am paid five dollars a week. This
is more than boys generally get in the first place, and I am indebted to
the partiality of an old gentleman, the senior member of the firm, whom
I had the chance to oblige, for faring so well. Still I find it hard to
get along on this sum, though I am as economical as possible. My board
and washing cost me six dollars a week, and I have, besides, to buy
clothing from time to time. I have nearly spent the extra money I had
with me, and do not know how to keep myself looking respectable in the
way of clothing. Under the circumstances, I shall have to apply to you
for a loan, say of twenty-five dollars. In a year or two I hope to earn
enough to be entirely independent. At present I cannot expect it. As my
father--Mr. Brent--undoubtedly intended to provide for me, I don't think
I need to apologize for making this request. Still I do it reluctantly,
for I would prefer to depend entirely upon myself.

“With regards to you and Jonas, I am yours truly, PHILIP BRENT.”



Phil put this letter in the post-office, and patiently waited for an
answer.

“Mrs. Brent surely cannot refuse me,” he said to himself, “since I have
almost wholly relieved her of the expense of taking care of me.”

Phil felt so sure that money would be sent to him that he began to look
round a little among ready-made clothing stores to see at what price he
could obtain a suit that would do for every-day use. He found a store
in the Bowery where he could secure a suit, which looked as if it would
answer, for thirteen dollars. If Mrs. Brent sent him twenty-five, that
would leave him twelve for underclothing, and for a reserve fund to meet
the weekly deficit which he could not avoid.

Three--four days passed, and no letter came in answer to his.

“It can't be that Mrs. Brent won't at least answer my letter,” he
thought uneasily. “Even if she didn't send me twenty-five dollars, she
couldn't help sending me something.”

Still he felt uneasy, in view of the position in which he would find
himself in case no letter or remittance should come at all.

It was during this period of anxiety that his heart leaped for joy
when on Broadway he saw the familiar form of Reuben Gordon, a young man
already mentioned, to whom Phil had sold his gun before leaving Gresham.

“Why, Reuben, how are you?” exclaimed Phil joyfully. “When did you come
to town?”

“Phil Brent!” exclaimed Reuben, shaking hands heartily. “I'm thunderin'
glad to see you. I was thinkin' of you only five minutes ago, and
wonderin' where you hung out.”

“But you haven't told me when you came to New York.”

“Only this morning! I'm goin' to stay with a cousin of my father's, that
lives in Brooklyn, over night.”

“I wanted to ask you about Mrs. Brent and Jonas. I was afraid they might
be sick, for I wrote four days ago and haven't got any answer yet.”

“Where did you write to?”

“To Gresham, of course,” answered Phil, in surprise.

“You don't mean to say you hain't heard of their leavin' Gresham?” said
Reuben, in evident astonishment.

“Who has left Gresham?”

“Your mother--leastwise, Mrs. Brent--and Jonas. They cleared out three
weeks ago, and nobody's heard a word of them since--that is, nobody in
the village.”

“Don't you know where they've gone?” asked Phil, in amazement.

“No. I was goin' to ask you. I s'posed, of course, they'd write and let
you know.”

“I didn't even know they had left Gresham.”

“Well, that's what I call cur'us. It ain't treatin' you right accordin'
to my ideas.”

“Is the house shut up?”

“It was till two days ago. Then a brother of Mrs. Brent came and opened
it. He has brought his wife and one child with him, and it seems they're
goin' to live there. Somebody asked him where his sister and Jonas were,
but they didn't get no satisfaction. He said he didn't rightly know
himself. He believed they was travelin'; thought they might be in
Canada.”

Phil looked and felt decidedly sober at this information. He understood,
of course, now, why his letter had not been answered. It looked as if he
were an outcast from the home that had been his so long. When he came to
New York to earn a living he felt that he was doing so voluntarily,
and was not obliged to do so. Now he was absolutely thrown upon his own
resources, and must either work or starve.

“They've treated you real mean,” said Reuben.

“I never did like Mrs. Brent, or Jonas either, for that matter.

“Where are you working?”

Phil answered this question and several others which his honest country
friend asked, but his mind was preoccupied, and he answered some of the
questions at random. Finally he excused himself on the ground that he
must be getting back to the store.

That evening Phil thought seriously of his position. Something must be
done, that was very evident. His expenses exceeded his income, and he
needed some clothing. There was no chance of getting his wages raised
under a year, for he already received more pay than it was customary to
give to a boy. What should he do?

Phil decided to lay his position frankly before the only friend he had
in the city likely to help him--Mr. Oliver Carter. The old gentleman
had been so friendly and kind that he felt that he would not at any
rate repulse him. After he had come to this decision he felt better. He
determined to lose no time in calling upon Mr. Carter.

After supper he brushed his hair carefully, and made himself look as
well as circumstances would admit. Then he bent his steps toward Twelfth
Street, where, as the reader will remember, Mr. Carter lived with his
niece.

He ascended the steps and rang the bell. It was opened by Hannah,
who recognized him, having admitted him on the former occasion of his
calling.

“Good-evening,” said Phil pleasantly. “Is Mr. Carter at home?”

“No, sir,” answered Hannah. “Didn't you know he had gone to Florida?”

“Gone to Florida!” repeated Phil, his heart sinking. “When did he
start?”

“He started this afternoon.”

“Who's asking after Uncle Oliver?” asked a boy's voice.

Looking behind Hannah, Phil recognized the speaker as Alonzo Pitkin.



CHAPTER XXI.

“THEY MET BY CHANCE.”

“Who was asking after Uncle Oliver?” demanded Alonzo superciliously.

“I was,” answered Philip.

“Oh! it's you, is it?” said Alonzo, rather disdainfully.

“Yes,” answered Phil calmly, though he felt provoked at Alonzo's tone,
which was meant to be offensive. “You remember me, don't you?”

“You are the boy that got round Uncle Oliver, and got him to give you a
place in pa's store.”

“I deny that I got round him,” returned Phil warmly. “I had the good
luck to do him a favor.”

“I suppose you have come after money?” said Alonzo coarsely.

“I sha'n't ask you for any, at any rate,” said Phil angrily.

“No; it wouldn't do any good,” said Alonzo; “and it's no use asking ma,
either. She says you are an adventurer, and have designs on Uncle Oliver
because he is rich.”

“I shall not ask your mother for any favor,” said Phil, provoked. “I am
sorry not to meet your uncle.”

“I dare say!” sneered Alonzo.

Just then a woman, poorly but neatly dressed, came down stairs. Her face
was troubled. Just behind her came Mrs. Pitkin, whose face wore a chilly
and proud look.

“Mr. Carter has left the city, and I really don't know when he will
return,” Phil heard her say. “If he had been at home, it would not have
benefited you. He is violently prejudiced against you, and would not
have listened to a word you had to say.”

“I did not think he would have harbored resentment so long,” murmured
the poor woman. “He never seemed to me to be a hard man.”

Phil gazed at the poorly dressed woman with a surprise which he did not
attempt to conceal, for in her he recognized the familiar figure of his
landlady. What could she have to do in this house? he asked himself.

“Mrs. Forbush!” he exclaimed.

“Philip!” exclaimed Mrs. Forbush, in a surprise as great as his own,
for she had never asked where her young lodger worked, and was not aware
that he was in the employ of her cousin's husband and well acquainted
with the rich uncle whom she had not seen for years.

“Do you know each other?” demanded Mrs. Pitkin, whose turn it was to be
surprised.

“This young gentleman lodges in my house,” answered Mrs. Forbush.

“Young gentleman!” repeated Alonzo, with a mocking laugh.

Philip looked at him sternly. He had his share of human nature, and
it would have given him satisfaction to thrash the insolent young
patrician, as Alonzo chose to consider himself.

“And what do you want here, young man?” asked Mrs. Pitkin in a frosty
tone, addressing Phil of course.

“I wished to see Mr. Carter,” answered Phil.

“Really, Mr. Carter seems to be very much in request!” sneered Mrs.
Pitkin. “No doubt he will be very much disappointed when he hears
what he has lost. You will have to go to Florida to see him, I think,
however.” She added, after a pause: “It will not be well for either of
you to call again. Mr. Carter will understand the motive of your calls.”

“How cruel you are, Lavinia!” said Mrs. Forbush sadly.

“My name is Mrs. Pitkin!” said that lady frigidly.

“You have not forgotten that we are cousins, surely?”

“I do not care to remember it, Mrs. Forbush. Good-day.”

There was no alternative but for Mrs. Forbush to say “good-day” also,
and to descend the steps.

Philip joined her in the street.

“Are you really the cousin of Mrs. Pitkin?” he asked.

“Yes,” answered Mrs. Forbush. “I bear the same relationship to Mr.
Carter that she does. We were much together as girls, and were both
educated at the same expensive schools. I offended my relatives by
marrying Mr. Forbush, whose fault was that he was poor, and chiefly,
I think, through the efforts of Lavinia Pitkin I was cast out by the
family. But where did you meet Uncle Oliver?”

Philip explained the circumstances already known to the reader.

“Mr. Carter seems to me to be a kind-hearted man,” he said. “I don't
believe he would have cast you off if he had not been influenced by
other parties.”

“So I think,” said Mrs. Forbush. “I will tell you,” she continued, after
a pause, “what drew me here this afternoon. I am struggling hard to keep
my head above water, Mr. Brent, but I find it hard to meet my expenses.
I cannot meet my rent due to-morrow within fifteen dollars, and I dared
to hope that if I could meet Uncle Oliver face to face and explain
matters to him, he would let me have the money.”

“I am sure he would,” said Phil warmly.

“But he is in Florida, and will probably remain there for a month or two
at least,” said Mrs. Forbush, sighing. “But even if he were in the city I
suppose Lavinia would do all in her power to keep us apart.”

“I have no doubt she would, Mrs. Forbush. Though she is your cousin, I
dislike her very much.”

“I suppose the boy with whom you were talking was her son Alonzo?”

“Yes; he is about the most disagreeable boy I ever met. Both he and
his mother seem very much opposed to my having an interview with your
uncle.”

“Lavinia was always of a jealous and suspicious disposition,” said Mrs.
Forbush. “I have not seen Alonzo since he was a baby. He is two years
older than my Julia. He was born before I estranged my relatives by
marrying a poor man.”

“What are you going to do, Mrs. Forbush, about the rent?” asked Phil, in
a tone of sympathy.

“I don't know. I shall try to get the landlord to wait, but I don't know
how he will feel about it.”

“I wish I had plenty of money. I would gladly lend you all you need.”

“I am sure you would, Philip,” said Mrs. Forbush. “The offer does me
good, though it is not accompanied by the ability to do what your good
heart dictates. I feel that I am not without friends.”

“I am a very poor one,” said Phil. “The fact is, I am in trouble myself.
My income is only five dollars a week, and my expenses are beyond that.
I don't know how I am going to keep up.”

“You may stay with me for three dollars a week, if you cannot pay four,”
 said Mrs. Forbush, forgetting her own troubles in her sympathy with our
hero.

“No, Mrs. Forbush, you can't afford it. You need money as much as I do,
and perhaps more; for you have more than yourself to support.”

“Yes, poor Julia!” sighed the mother. “She is born to a heritage of
poverty. Heaven only knows how we are going to get along.”

“God will provide for us, Mrs. Forbush,” said Philip. “I don't know how
it is, but in spite of my troubles I feel cheerful. I have a confidence
that things will come out well, though I cannot possibly imagine how.”

“You are young, and youth is more inclined to be hopeful than maturer
years. However, I do not wish to dampen your cheerfulness. Keep it, and
let it comfort you.”

If Phil could have heard the conversation that took place between
Mrs. Pitkin and Alonzo after their departure, he might have felt less
hopeful.

“It is dreadfully annoying that that woman should turn up after all
these years!” said Mrs. Pitkin, in a tone of disgust.

“Is she really your cousin, ma?” asked Alonzo.

“Yes, but she disgraced herself by a low marriage, and was cast off.”

“That disposes of her, then?”

“I don't know. If she could meet Uncle Oliver, I am afraid she would
worm herself into his confidence and get him to do something for her.
Then it is unfortunate that she and that boy have fallen in with each
other. She may get him to speak to Uncle Oliver in her behalf.”

“Isn't he working for pa?”

“Yes.”

“Why don't you get pa to discharge him while Uncle Oliver is away?”

“Well thought of, Alonzo! I will speak to your father this very
evening.”



CHAPTER XXII.

PHIL IS “BOUNCED.”

Saturday, as is usual in such establishments, was pay-day at the store
of Phil's employers. The week's wages were put up in small envelopes and
handed to the various clerks.

When Phil went up to the cashier to get his money he put it quietly into
his vest-pocket.

Daniel Dickson, the cashier, observing this, said:

“Brent, you had better open your envelope.”

Rather surprised, Phil nevertheless did as requested.

In the envelope, besides the five-dollar bill representing his week's
salary, he found a small slip of paper, on which was written these
ominous words:

“Your services will not be required after this week.” Appended to this
notice was the name of the firm.

Phil turned pale, for to him, embarrassed as he was, the loss of his
place was a very serious matter.

“What does this mean, Mr. Dickson?” he asked quickly.

“I can't inform you,” answered the cashier, smiling unpleasantly, for he
was a selfish man who sympathized with no one, and cared for no one as
long as he himself remained prosperous.

“Who handed you this paper?” asked Phil.

“The boss.”

“Mr. Pitkin?”

“Of course.”

Mr. Pitkin was still in his little office, and Phil made his way
directly to him.

“May I speak to you, sir?” asked our hero.

“Be quick about it then, for I am in a hurry,” answered Pitkin, in a
very forbidding tone.

“Why am I discharged, sir?”

“I can't go into details. We don't need you any longer.”

“Are you not satisfied with me?”

“No!” said Pitkin brusquely.

“In what respect have I failed to satisfy you, sir?”

“Don't put on any airs, boy!” returned Pitkin. “We don't want you,
that's all.”

“You might have given me a little notice,” said Phil indignantly.

“We made no stipulation of that kind, I believe.”

“It would only be fair, sir.”

“No impertinence, young man! I won't stand it! I don't need any
instructions as to the manner of conducting my business.”

Phil by this time perceived that his discharge was decided upon without
any reference to the way in which he had performed his duties, and that
any discussion or remonstrance would be unavailing.

“I see, sir, that you have no regard for justice, and will leave you,”
 he said.

“You'd better, and without delay!” said Pitkin irascibly.

Phil emerged upon the street with a sinking heart. His available funds
consisted only of the money he had just received and seventy-five cents
in change, and what he was to do he did not know. He walked home with
slow steps, looking sad in spite of his usually hopeful temperament.

When he entered the house he met Mrs. Forbush in the hall. She at once
noticed his gravity.

“Have you had any bad luck, Philip?” she asked.

“Yes,” answered Phil. “I have lost my situation.”

“Indeed!” returned the landlady, with quick sympathy. “Have you had any
difficulty with your employer?”

“Not that I am aware of.”

“Did he assign any reason for your discharge?”

“No; I asked him for an explanation, but he merely said I was not wanted
any longer.”

“Isn't there any chance of his taking you back?”

“I am sure there is not.”

“Don't be discouraged, Philip. A smart boy like you won't be long out of
a place. Meanwhile you are welcome to stay here as long as I have a roof
to cover me.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Forbush,” said Phil warmly, “you are a true friend. You
are in trouble yourself, yet you stand by me!”

“I have had a stroke of good luck to-day,” said Mrs. Forbush cheerfully.
“A former boarder, whom I allowed to remain here for five or six weeks
when he was out of employment, has sent me thirty dollars in payment of
his bill, from Boston, where he found a position. So I shall be able to
pay my rent and have something over. I have been lucky, and so may you.”

Phil was cheered by the ready sympathy of his landlady, and began to
take a more cheerful view of matters.

“I will go out bright and early on Monday and see if I can't find
another place,” he said. “Perhaps it may be all for the best.”

Yet on the day succeeding he had some sober hours. How differently
he had been situated only three months before. Then he had a home and
relatives. Now he was practically alone in the world, with no home
in which he could claim a share, and he did not even know where his
step-mother and Jonas were. Sunday forenoon he attended church, and
while he sat within its sacred precincts his mind was tranquilized, and
his faith and cheerfulness increased.

On Monday he bought the Herald, and made a tour of inquiry wherever he
saw that a boy was wanted. But in each place he was asked if he could
produce a recommendation from his last employer. He decided to go back
to his old place and ask for one, though he was very reluctant to ask
a favor of any kind from a man who had treated him so shabbily as Mr.
Pitkin. It seemed necessary, however, and he crushed down his pride and
made his way to Mr. Pitkin's private office.

“Mr. Pitkin!” he said.

“You here!” exclaimed Pitkin, scowling. “You needn't ask to be taken
back. It's no use.”

“I don't ask it,” answered Phil.

“Then what are you here for?”

“I would like a letter of recommendation, that I may obtain another
place.”

“Well, well!” said Pitkin, wagging his head. “If that isn't impudence.”

“What is impudence?” asked Phil. “I did as well as I could, and that I
am ready to do for another employer. But all ask me for a letter from
you.”

“You won't get any!” said Pitkin abruptly.

“Where is your home?”

“I have none except in this city.”

“Where did you come from?”

“From the country.”

“Then I advise you to go back there. You may do for the country. You are
out of place in the city.”

Poor Phil! Things did indeed look dark for him. Without a letter of
recommendation from Mr. Pitkin it would be almost impossible for him to
secure another place, and how could he maintain himself in the city? He
didn't wish to sell papers or black boots, and those were about the only
paths now open to him.

“I am having a rough time!” he thought, “but I will try not to get
discouraged.”

He turned upon his heel and walked out of the store.

As he passed the counter where Wilbur was standing, the young man said:

“I am awfully sorry, Philip. It's a shame! If I wasn't broke I'd offer
to lend you a fiver.”

“Thank you all the same for your kind offer, Wilbur,” said Phil.

“Come round and see me.”

“So I will--soon.”

He left the store and wandered aimlessly about the streets.

Four days later, sick with hope deferred, he made his way down to the
wharf of the Charleston and Savannah boats, with a vague idea that he
might get a job of carrying baggage, for he felt that he must not let
his pride interfere with doing anything by which he could earn an honest
penny.

It so happened that the Charleston boat was just in, and the passengers
were just landing.

Phil stood on the pier and gazed listlessly at them as they disembarked.

All at once he started in surprise, and his heart beat joyfully.

There, just descending the gang-plank, was his tried friend, Mr. Oliver
Carter, whom he supposed over a thousand miles away in Florida.

“Mr. Carter!” exclaimed Phil, dashing forward.

“Philip!” exclaimed the old gentleman, much surprised. “How came you
here? Did Mr. Pitkin send you?”




CHAPTER XXIII.

AN EXPLANATION.

It would be hard to tell which of the two was the more surprised at the
meeting, Philip or Mr. Carter.

“I don't understand how Mr. Pitkin came to hear of my return. I didn't
telegraph,” said the old gentleman.

“I don't think he knows anything about it,” said Phil.

“Didn't he send you to the pier?”

“No, sir.”

“Then how is it that you are not in the store at this time?” asked Mr.
Carter, puzzled.

“Because I am no longer in Mr. Pitkin's employ. I was discharged last
Saturday.”

“Discharged! What for?”

“Mr. Pitkin gave no reason. He said my services were no longer
required. He spoke roughly to me, and has since declined to give me a
recommendation, though I told him that without it I should be unable to
secure employment elsewhere.”

Mr. Carter frowned. He was evidently annoyed and indignant.

“This must be inquired into,” he said. “Philip, call a carriage, and I
will at once go to the Astor House and take a room. I had intended to
go at once to Mr. Pitkin's, but I shall not do so until I have had an
explanation of this outrageous piece of business.”

Phil was rejoiced to hear this, for he was at the end of his resources,
and the outlook for him was decidedly gloomy. He had about made up his
mind to sink his pride and go into business as a newsboy the next day,
but the very unexpected arrival of Mr. Carter put quite a new face on
matters.

He called a carriage, and both he and Mr. Carter entered it.

“How do you happen to be back so soon, sir?” asked Phil, when they were
seated. “I thought you were going to Florida for a couple of months.”

“I started with that intention, but on reaching Charleston I changed my
mind. I expected to find some friends at St. Augustine, but I learned
that they were already returning to the North, and I felt that I should
be lonely and decided to return. I am very glad I did, now. Did you
receive my letter?”

“Your letter?” queried Philip, looking at Mr. Carter in surprise.

“Certainly. I gave Alonzo a letter for you, which I had directed to your
boarding-house, and requested him to mail it. It contained a ten-dollar
bill.”

“I never received any such letter, sir. It would have been of great
service to me--the money, I mean; for I have found it hard to live on
five dollars a week. Now I have not even that.”

“Is it possible that Alonzo could have suppressed the letter?” said Mr.
Carter to himself.

“At any rate I never received it.”

“Here is something else to inquire into,” said Mr. Carter. “If Alonzo
has tampered with my letter, perhaps appropriated the money, it will be
the worse for him.”

“I hardly think he would do that, sir; though I don't like him.”

“You are generous; but I know the boy better than you do. He is fond of
money, not for the sake of spending it, but for the sake of hoarding it.
Tell me, then, how did you learn that I had gone to Florida?”

“I learned it at the house in Twelfth Street.”

“Then you called there?”

“Yes, sir; I called to see you. I found it hard to get along on my
salary, and I did not want Mrs. Forbush to lose by me, so I----”

“Mrs. Forbush?” repeated the old gentleman quickly. “That name sounds
familiar to me.”

“Mrs. Forbush is your niece,” said Phil, a hope rising in his heart that
he might be able to do his kind landlady a good turn.

“Did she tell you that?”

“No, sir; that is, I was ignorant of it until I met her just as I was
going away from Mrs. Pitkin's.”

“Did she call there, too--to see me?” asked the old gentleman.

“Yes, sir; but she got a very cold reception. Mrs. Pitkin was very rude
to her, and said that you were so much prejudiced against her that she
had better not call again.”

“That's like her cold selfishness. I understand her motives very well. I
had no idea that Mrs. Forbush was in the city. Is she--poor?”

“Yes, sir; she is having a hard struggle to maintain herself and her
daughter.”

“And you board at her house?”

“Yes, sir.”

“How strangely things come about! She is as nearly related to me as
Lavinia--Mrs. Pitkin.”

“She told me so.”

“She married against the wishes of her family, but I can see now that we
were all unreasonably prejudiced against her. Lavinia, however, trumped
up stories against her husband, which I am now led to believe were quite
destitute of foundation, and did all she could to keep alive the feud. I
feel now that I was very foolish to lend myself to her selfish ends. Of
course her object was to get my whole fortune for herself and her boy.”

Phil had no doubt of this, but he did not like to say so, for it would
seem that he, too, was influenced by selfish motives.

“Then you are not so much prejudiced against Mrs. Forbush as she was
told?” he allowed himself to say.

“No, no!” said Mr. Carter earnestly. “Poor Rebecca! She has a much
better nature and disposition than Mrs. Pitkin. And you say she is
poor?”

“She had great difficulty in paying her last month's rent,” said Philip.

“Where does she live?”

Phil told him.

“What sort of a house is it?”

“It isn't a brown-stone front,” answered Phil, smiling. “It is a poor,
cheap house; but it is as good as she can afford to hire.”

“And you like her?”

“Very much, Mr. Carter. She has been very kind to me, and though she
finds it so hard to get along, she has told me she will keep me as long
as she has a roof over her head, though just now I cannot pay my board,
because my income is gone.”

“It will come back again, Philip,” said the old gentleman.

Phil understood by this that he would be restored to his place in Mr.
Pitkin's establishment. This did not yield him unalloyed satisfaction,
for he was sure that it would be made unpleasant for him by Mr. Pitkin.
Still he would accept it, and meet disagreeable things as well as he
could.

By this time they had reached the Astor House.

Phil jumped out first, and assisted Mr. Carter to descend.

He took Mr. Carter's hand-bag, and followed him into the hotel.

Mr. Carter entered his name in the register.

“What is your name?” he asked--“Philip Brent?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I will enter your name, too.”

“Am I to stay here?” asked Phil, in surprise.

“Yes; I shall need a confidential clerk, and for the present you will
fill that position. I will take two adjoining rooms--one for you.”

Phil listened in surprise.

“Thank you, sir,” he said.

Mr. Carter gave orders to have his trunk sent for from the steamer, and
took possession of the room. Philip's room was smaller, but considerably
more luxurious than the one he occupied at the house of Mrs. Forbush.

“Have you any money, Philip?” asked the old gentleman.

“I have twenty-five cents,” answered Philip.

“That isn't a very large sum,” said Mr. Carter, smiling. “Here, let me
replenish your pocketbook.”

He drew four five-dollar bills from his wallet and handed them to Phil.

“How can I thank you, sir?” asked Phil gratefully.

“Wait till you have more to thank me for. Let me tell you this, that in
trying to harm you, Mr. and Mrs. Pitkin have done you a great service.”

“I should like to see Mrs. Forbush this evening, if you can spare me, to
let her know that she needn't be anxious about me.”

“By all means. You can go.”

“Am I at liberty to mention that I have seen you, sir?”

“Yes. Tell her that I will call to-morrow. And you may take her this.”

Mr. Carter drew a hundred-dollar bill from his wallet and passed it to
Phil.

“Get it changed at the office as you go out,” he said. “Come back as
soon as you can.”

With a joyful heart Phil jumped on a Fourth Avenue car in front of the
hotel, and started on his way up town.



CHAPTER XXIV.

RAISING THE RENT.

Leaving Phil, we will precede him to the house of Mrs. Forbush.

She had managed to pay the rent due, but she was not out of trouble. The
time had come when it was necessary to decide whether she would retain
the house for the following year. In New York, as many of my young
readers may know, the first of May is moving-day, and leases generally
begin at that date. Engagements are made generally by or before March
1st.

Mr. Stone, the landlord, called upon the widow to ascertain whether she
proposed to remain in the house.

“I suppose I may as well do so,” said Mrs. Forbush.

She had had difficulty in making her monthly payments, but to move
would involve expense, and it might be some time before she could secure
boarders in a new location.

“You can't do better,” said the landlord. “At fifty dollars a month this
is a very cheap house.”

“You mean forty-five? Mr. Stone?” said Mrs. Forbush.

“No, I don't,” said the landlord.

“But that is what I have been paying this last year.”

“That is true, but I ought to get fifty dollars, and if you won't pay it
somebody else will.”

“Mr. Stone,” said the widow, in a troubled voice, “I hope you will
be considerate. It has been as much as I could do to get together
forty-five dollars each month to pay you. Indeed, I can pay no more.”

“Pardon me for saying that that is no affair of mine,” said the landlord
brusquely. “If you can't pay the rent, by all means move into a smaller
house. If you stay here you must be prepared to pay fifty dollars a
month.”

“I don't see how I can,” answered the widow in dejection.

“I'll give you three days to consider it,” said the landlord
indifferently. “You'll make a mistake if you give the house up. However,
that is your affair.”

The landlord left the house, and Mrs. Forbush sat down depressed.

“Julia,” she said to her daughter, “I wish you were old enough to advise
me. I dislike to move, but I don't dare to engage to pay such a rent.
Fifty dollars a month will amount to----”

“Six hundred dollars a year!” said Julia, who was good at figures.

“And that seems a great sum to us.”

“It would be little enough to Mrs. Pitkin,” said Julia, who felt that
lady's prosperity unjust, while her poor, patient mother had to struggle
so hard for a scanty livelihood.

“Oh, yes; Lavinia is rolling in wealth,” sighed Mrs. Forbush. “I can't
understand how Uncle Oliver can bestow his favors on so selfish a
woman.”

“Why don't you ask Philip's advice about keeping the house?” said Julia.

It must be explained that Philip and Julia were already excellent
friends, and it may be said that each was mutually attracted by the
other.

“Poor Philip has his own troubles,” said Mrs. Forbush. “He has lost his
place through the malice and jealousy of Mr. and Mrs. Pitkin, for I am
sure that Lavinia is the cause of his dismissal, and I don't know when
he will be able to get another.”

“You won't send him away, mother, if he can't pay his board?”

“No,” answered her mother warmly. “Philip is welcome to stay with us as
long as we have a roof over our heads, whether he can pay his board or
not.”

This answer seemed very satisfactory to Julia, who rose impulsively and
kissed her mother.

“That's a good mother,” she said. “It would be a pity to send poor
Philip into the street.”

“You seem to like Philip,” said Mrs. Forbush, smiling faintly.

“Yes, mother. You know I haven't any brother, and Phil seems just like a
brother to me.”

Just then the door opened, and Philip himself entered the room.

Generally he came home looking depressed, after a long and ineffectual
search for employment. Now he was fairly radiant with joy.

“Phil, you've got a place; I know you have!” exclaimed Julia, noticing
his glad expression. “Where is it? Is it a good one?”

“Have you really got a place, Philip?” asked Mrs. Forbush.

“Yes, for the present.”

“Do you think you shall like your employer?”

“He is certainly treating me very well,” said Phil, smiling. “He has
paid me twenty dollars in advance.”

“Then the age of wonders has not passed,” said the widow. “Of course I
believe you, Philip, but it seems extraordinary.”

“There is something more extraordinary to come,” said Phil. “He has sent
you some money, too.”

“Me!” exclaimed Mrs. Forbush, in great surprise.

“What can he know about me?”

“I told him about you.”

“But we are strangers.”

“He used to know you, and still feels an interest in you, Mrs. Forbush.”

“Who can it be?” said the widow, looking bewildered.

“I don't want to keep you in suspense any longer, so I may as well say
that it is your Uncle Oliver.”

“Uncle Oliver! Why, he is in Florida.”

“No; he came home from Charleston. I happened to be at the pier--I went
down to see if I could get a job at smashing baggage--when I saw him
walking down the gang-plank.”

“Has he gone to his old quarters at Mr. Pitkin's?”

“No; what I told about the way they treated you and me made him angry,
and he drove to the Astor House. I have a room there, too, and am to act
as his private secretary.”

“So that is your new situation, Phil?” said Julia.

“Yes, and it is a good one.”

“And he really feels kindly to me?” said Mrs. Forbush hopefully.

“He sends you this and will call to-morrow,” said Phil. “Actions speak
louder than words. There are a hundred dollars in this roll of bills.”

“He sent all this to me?” she said.

“Yes, and of his own accord. It was no suggestion of mine.

“Julia,” said Mrs. Forbush, turning to her daughter, “I believe God has
heard my prayer, and that better days are in store for all of us.”

“Philip included,” added Phil, smiling.

“Yes. I want you to share in our good fortune.”

“Mother, you had better consult Phil about keeping the house.”

“Oh, yes.”

Mrs. Forbush thereupon told Philip of the landlord's visit and his
proposal to ask a higher rent.

“I hesitated about taking the house,” she said; “but with this handsome
gift from Uncle Oliver, I don't know but I may venture. What do you
think?”

“I think, Mrs. Forbush, you had better not decide till you have seen
your uncle. He may have some plan of his own for you. At any rate, you
had better consult him. He will call to-morrow. And now, let me pay you
for my week's board.”

“No, Philip. I shall not want it with all this money, which I should not
have received but for you.”

“A debt is a debt, Mrs. Forbush, and I prefer to pay it. I shall not be
here to supper, as Mr. Carter is expecting me back to the Astor House. I
shall probably come with him when he calls upon you to-morrow.”

On his return to the hotel, as he was walking on Broadway, Phil came
face to face with Alonzo Pitkin.

“I think I'll ask him about that letter his uncle gave him to post to
me,” thought Phil, and he waited until Alonzo was close at hand.



CHAPTER XXV.

ALONZO IS PUZZLED.

Alonzo, who had his share of curiosity, as soon as he saw Phil's
approach, determined to speak to him, and ascertain what were his plans
and what he was doing. With the petty malice which he inherited from his
mother, he hoped that Phil had been unable to find a place and was in
distress.

“It would serve him right,” said Alonzo to himself, “for trying to get
into Uncle Oliver's good graces. I s'pose he would like to cut me out,
but he'll find that he can't fight against ma and me.”

“Oh, it's you, is it?” was Alonzo's salutation when they met.

“Yes,” answered Phil.

“Pa bounced you, didn't he?” continued Alonzo complacently.

“Yes,” answered Phil. “That is, he discharged me. I suppose that is what
you meant.”

“You've got it right the first time,” said Alonzo.

“Have you got another place?”

“Do you ask because you feel interested in me?” asked Phil.

“Well, not particularly,” answered Alonzo appearing quite amused by the
suggestion.

“Then you ask out of curiosity?”

“S'pose I do?”

“I don't mind telling you that I have found a place, then.”

“What sort of a place?” asked Alonzo, disappointed.

“There is no need of going into particulars.”

“No. I s'pose not,” sneered Alonzo. “You're probably selling papers or
blacking boots.”

“You are mistaken. I have a much better situation than I had with your
father.”

Alonzo's lower jaw fell. He was very sorry to hear it.

“Didn't your employer ask for a recommendation?”

“He didn't seem to think one necessary!” replied Phil.

“If he'd known pa had sacked you, he wouldn't have wanted you, I guess.”

“He knows it. Have you got through asking questions, Alonzo?”

“You are too familiar. You can call me Mr. Pitkin.”

Phil laughed at Alonzo's assumption of dignity, but made no comment upon
it.

“I want to ask you what you did with that letter Mr. Carter gave you to
post for me?” asked Phil.

Alonzo was indeed surprised, not to say dismayed. The truth was that,
judging from the “feel” of the letter, it contained money, and he had
opened it and appropriated the money to his own use. Moreover he had
the bank-note in his pocket at that very moment, not having any wish to
spend, but rather to hoard it.

“That's a queer question,” he stammered. “What letter do you refer to?”

“A letter Mr. Carter gave you to mail to me.”

“If he gave me any such letter I mailed it,” answered Alonzo, scarcely
knowing what to say.

“I didn't receive it.”

“How do you know he gave me any letter?” demanded Alonzo, puzzled.

“I don't care to tell. I only know that there was such a letter handed
to you. Do you know what was in it?”

“Writing, I s'pose,” said Alonzo flippantly.

“Yes, there was, but there was also a ten-dollar bill. I didn't receive
the letter,” and Phil fixed his eyes searchingly upon the face of
Alonzo.

“That's a pretty story!” said Alonzo. “I don't believe Uncle Oliver
would be such a fool as to send you ten dollars. If he did, you got it,
and now want to get as much more, pretending you haven't received it.”

“You are mistaken,” said Phil quietly.

“If you didn't get the letter, how do you know any was written, and that
there was anything in it?” asked Alonzo triumphantly, feeling that the
question was a crusher.

“I don't care to tell you how I know it. Do you deny it?”

“I don't remember whether Uncle Oliver gave me any letter or not.”

“Will you be kind enough to give me his address in Florida, so that I
may write to him and find out?”

“No, I won't,” said Alonzo angrily, “and I think you are very cheeky
to ask such a thing. Ma was right when she said that you were the most
impudent boy she ever came across.”

“That's enough, Alonzo,” said Phil quietly. “I've found out all I wanted
to.”

“What have you found out?” asked Alonzo, his tone betraying some
apprehension.

“Never mind. I think I know what became of that letter.”

“Do you mean to say I opened it and took out the money?” demanded
Alonzo, reddening.

“I wouldn't charge anybody with such a mean act, unless I felt satisfied
of it.”

“You'd better not!” said Alonzo, in a bullying tone. “If I find out who
you're working for, I'll let him know that pa bounced you.”

“Just as you please! I don't think that any words of yours will injure
me with the gentleman I have the good fortune to work for.”

“Don't you be too sure! If you think he wouldn't mind a boy, I'll refer
him to pa and ma. They'll give you a good setting out.”

“I don't doubt it,” said Phil indifferently, and turned to go away.

He was called back by Alonzo, who had not quite satisfied his curiosity.

“Say, are you boarding with that woman who came to see ma the same day
you were at the house?” he asked.

“No; I have left her.”

Alonzo looked well pleased. He knew that his mother felt rather uneasy
at the two being together, dreading lest they should make a concerted
attempt to ingratiate themselves with her rich uncle.

“Ma says she behaved very badly,” Alonzo could not help adding.

“Mrs. Forbush is an excellent Lady,” said Phil warmly, for he could not
hear one of his friends spoken against.

“Lady! She's as poor as poverty,” sneered Alonzo.

“She is none the worse for that.”

“Uncle Oliver can't bear her!”

“Indeed!” said Phil; pausing to see what else Alonzo would say.

“Ma says she disgraced herself, and all her relations gave her up. When
you see her tell her she had better not come sneaking round the house
again.”

“If you will write a letter to that effect, I will see that she gets
it,” said Phil. “That letter won't miscarry.”

“I don't care to take any notice of her,” said Alonzo loftily.

“You are very kind to have wasted so much notice upon me,” said Phil,
amused.

Alonzo did not see fit to answer this, but walked away with his head in
the air. He was, however, not quite easy in mind.

“How in the world,” he asked himself, “could that boy have found out
that Uncle Oliver gave me a letter to post? If he should learn that I
opened it and took the money, there'd be a big fuss. I guess I'd
better not meet him again. If I see him any day I'll go in a different
direction. He's so artful he may get me into trouble.”

It is needless to say that neither Mr. or Mrs. Pitkin knew of Alonzo's
tampering with the letter. Much as they would have been opposed to
Phil's receiving such a letter, they would have been too wise to
sanction such a bold step.

“Well,” said Mr. Carter, when Phil returned, “did you see Rebecca--Mrs.
Forbush?”

“Yes, sir, and handed her the money. She was overjoyed; not so much at
receiving so generous a sum as at learning that you were reconciled to
her.”

“Poor girl!” said the old man, forgetting that she was now a worn woman.
“I am afraid that she must have suffered much.”

“She has met with many hardships, sir, but she won't mind them now.”

“If I live her future shall be brighter than her past. I will call
to-morrow. You, Philip, shall go with me.”

“I should like to do so, sir. By the way, I met Alonzo on Broadway.”

He detailed the conversation that had taken place between them.

“I am afraid he took the money,” said Mr. Carter. “I am sorry any
relative of mine should have acted in that way. Let him keep it. Any
benefit he may derive from it will prove to have been dearly purchased.”



CHAPTER XXVI.

A WONDERFUL CHANGE.

“You may order a carriage, Philip,” said Mr. Carter the next morning.
“Pick out a handsome one with seats for four.”

“Yes, sir.”

In five minutes the carriage was at the door.

“Now, Philip, we will go to see my long-neglected niece, Mrs. Forbush.
Give the driver the necessary directions.”

“Mrs. Forbush does not have many carriage-callers,” said Philip,
smiling.

“Perhaps she will have more hereafter,” said Mr. Carter, “I ought not
so long to have lost sight of her. I always liked Rebecca better than
Lavinia, yet I let the latter prejudice me against her cousin, who is
in disposition, education and sincerity her superior. You see, Philip,
there are old fools in the world as well as young ones.”

“It is never too late to mend, Mr. Carter,” said Phil, smiling.

“That's very true, even if it is a young philosopher who says it.”

“I don't claim any originality for it, Mr. Carter.”

“By the way, Philip, I have noticed that you always express yourself
very correctly. Your education must be good.”

“Yes, sir, thanks to my father, or the man whom I always regarded as my
father. I am a fair Latin scholar, and know something of Greek.”

“Were you preparing for college?” asked Mr. Carter, with interest.

“Yes, sir.”

“Would you like to go?”

“I should have gone had father lived, but my step-mother said it was
foolishness and would be money thrown away.”

“Perhaps she preferred to incur that expense for her own son?” suggested
the old gentleman.

“Jonas wouldn't consent to that. He detests study, and would decidedly
object to going to college.”

“By the way, you haven't heard from them lately?”

“Only that they have left our old home and gone no one knows where.”

“That is strange.”

By this time they had reached the humble dwelling occupied by Mrs.
Forbush.

“And so this is where Rebecca lives?” said Mr. Carter.

“Yes, sir. It is not quite so nice as Mrs. Pitkin's.”

“No,” returned Mr. Carter thoughtfully.

Philip rang the bell, and the two were admitted into the humble parlor.
They had not long to wait for Mrs. Forbush, who, with an agitation which
she could not overcome, entered the presence of her long estranged and
wealthy uncle.

“Rebecca!” exclaimed the old gentleman, rising, and showing some emotion
as he saw the changes which fifteen years had made in the niece whom he
had last met as a girl.

“Uncle Oliver! how kind you are to visit me!” cried Mrs. Forbush, the
tears starting from her eyes.

“Kind! Nonsense! I have been very unkind to neglect you so long. But it
wasn't all my fault. There were others who did all they could to keep us
apart. You have lost your husband?”

“Yes, uncle. He was poor, but he was one of the kindest and best of men,
and made me happy.”

“I begin to think I have been an old fool, Rebecca. Philip thinks so,
too.”

“Oh, Mr. Carter!” exclaimed our hero.

“Yes, you do, Philip,” asserted Mr. Carter, “and you are quite right.
However, as you told me, it is never too late to mend.”

“Mrs. Forbush will think I take strange liberties with you, sir.”

“I don't object to good advice, even from a boy. But who is this?”

Julia had just entered the room. She was a bright, attractive girl, but
held back bashfully until her mother said:

“Julia, this is Uncle Oliver Carter. You have heard me speak of him.”

“Yes, mamma.”

“And scold about him, I dare say. Well, Julia, come and give your old
uncle a kiss.”

Julia blushed, but obeyed her uncle's request.

“I should know she was your child, Rebecca. She looks as you did at her
age. Now tell me, have you any engagement this morning, you two?”

“No, Uncle Oliver.”

“Then I will find one for you. I have a carriage at the door. You will
please put on your bonnets. We are going shopping.”

“Shopping?”

“Yes, I am going to fit out both of you in a manner more befitting
relatives of mine. The fact is, Niece Rebecca, you are actually shabby.”

“I know it, uncle, but there has been so many ways of spending money
that I have had to neglect my dress.

“Very likely. I understand. Things are different now. Now, don't be over
an hour getting ready!”

“We are not fashionable, uncle,” said Mrs. Forbush, “and we haven't any
change to make.”

They entered the carriage, and drove to a large and fashionable store,
where everything necessary to a lady's toilet, including dresses quite
complete, could be obtained. Mrs. Forbush was in favor of selecting very
plain articles, but her uncle overruled her, and pointed out costumes
much more costly.

“But, uncle,” objected Mrs. Forbush, “these things won't at all
correspond with our plain home and mode of living. Think of a
boarding-house keeper arrayed like a fine lady.”

“You are going to give up taking boarders--that is, you will have none
but Philip and myself.”

“Will you really live with us, uncle? But the house is too poor.”

“Of course it is, but you are going to move. I will speak further on
this point when you are through your purchases.”

At length the shopping was over, and they re-entered the carriage.

“Drive to No.-- Madison Avenue,” said Mr. Carter to the driver.

“Uncle Oliver, you have given the wrong direction.”

“No, Rebecca, I know what I am about.”

“Do you live on Madison Avenue?” asked Mrs. Forbush.

“I am going to and so are you. You must know that I own a furnished
house on Madison Avenue. The late occupants sailed for Europe last week,
and I was looking out for a tenant when I found you. You will move there
to-morrow, and act as house keeper, taking care of Philip and myself. I
hope Julia and you will like it as well as your present home.”

“How can I thank you for all your kindness, Uncle Oliver?” said Mrs.
Forbush, with joyful tears. “It will be living once more. It will be
such a rest from the hard struggle I have had of late years.”

“You can repay me by humoring all my whims,” said Uncle Oliver, smiling.
“You will find me very tyrannical. The least infraction of my rules will
lead me to send you all packing.”

“Am I to be treated in the same way, Mr. Carter?” asked Philip.

“Exactly.”

“Then, if you discharge me, I will fly for refuge to Mr. Pitkin.”

“That will be 'out of the frying-pan into the fire' with a vengeance.”

By this time they had reached the house. It was an elegant brown-stone
front, and proved, on entrance, to be furnished in the most complete and
elegant manner. Mr. Carter selected the second floor for his own use;
a good-sized room on the third was assigned to Philip, and Mrs. Forbush
was told to select such rooms for Julia and herself as she desired.

“This is much finer than Mrs. Pitkin's house,” said Philip.

“Yes, it is.”

“She will be jealous when she hears of it.”

“No doubt. That is precisely what I desire. It will be a fitting
punishment for her treatment of her own cousin.”

It was arranged that on the morrow Mrs. Forbush and Julia should close
their small house, leaving directions to sell the humble furniture at
auction, while Mr. Carter and Philip would come up from the Astor House.

“What will the Pitkins say when they hear of it?” thought Philip. “I am
afraid they will feel bad.”



CHAPTER XXVII.

AN UNPLEASANT SURPRISE.

While these important changes were occurring in the lives of Philip
Brent and the poor cousin, Mrs. Pitkin remained in blissful ignorance
of what was going on. Alonzo had told her of his encounter with Phil on
Broadway and the intelligence our hero gave him of his securing a place.

“You may rest assured the boy was lying, Lonny,” said Mrs. Pitkin.
“Boys don't get places so easily, especially when they can't give a
recommendation from their last employer.

“That's just what I thought, ma,” said Alonzo.

“Still Phil looked in good spirits, and he was as saucy as ever.”

“I can believe the last very well, Lonny. The boy is naturally
impertinent. They were probably put on to deceive you.”

“But how does he get money to pay his way?” said Alonzo puzzled.

“As to that, he is probably selling papers or blacking boots in the
lower part of the city. He could make enough to live on, and of course
he wouldn't let you know what he was doing.”

“I hope you're right, ma. I'd give ever so much to catch him blacking
boots in City Hall Park, or anywhere else; I'd give him a job. Wouldn't
he feel mortified to be caught?”

“No doubt he would.”

“I've a great mind to go down town to-morrow and look about for him.”

“Very well, Lonny. You may to if you want to.”

Alonzo did go; but he looked in vain for Phil. The latter was employed
in doing some writing and attending to some accounts for Mr. Carter, who
had by this time found that his protege was thoroughly well qualified
for such work.

So nearly a week passed. It so chanced that though Uncle Oliver had now
been in New York a considerable time, not one of the Pitkins had met him
or had reason to suspect that he was nearer than Florida.

One day, however, among Mrs. Pitkin's callers was Mrs. Vangriff, a
fashionable acquaintance.

“Mr. Oliver Carter is your uncle, I believe?” said the visitor.

“Yes.”

“I met him on Broadway the other day. He was looking very well.”

“It must have been a fortnight since, then. Uncle Oliver is in Florida.”

“In Florida!” repeated Mrs. Vangriff, in surprise.

“When did he go?”

“When was it, Lonny?” asked Mrs. Pitkin, appealing to her son.

“It will be two weeks next Thursday.”

“There must be some mistake,” said the visitor.

“I saw Mr. Carter on Broadway, near Twentieth Street, day before
yesterday.”

“Quite a mistake, I assure you, Mrs. Vangriff,” said Mrs. Pitkin,
smiling. “It was some other person. You were deceived by a fancied
resemblance.”

“It is you who are wrong, Mrs. Pitkin,” said Mrs. Vangriff, positively.
“I am somewhat acquainted with Mr. Carter, and I stopped to speak with
him.”

“Are you sure of this?” asked Mrs. Pitkin, looking startled.

“Certainly, I am sure of it.”

“Did you call him by name?”

“Certainly; and even inquired after you. He answered that he believed
you were well. I thought he was living with you?”

“So he was,” answered Mrs. Pitkin coolly as possible, considering the
startling nature of the information she had received. “Probably Uncle
Oliver returned sooner than he anticipated, and was merely passing
through the city. He has important business interests at the West.”

“I don't think he was merely passing through the city, for a friend of
mine saw him at the Fifth Avenue Theater last evening.”

Mrs. Pitkin actually turned as pale as her sallow complexion would
admit.

“I am rather surprised to hear this, I admit,” she said. “Was he alone,
do you know?”

“No; he had a lady and a boy with him.”

“Is it possible that Uncle Oliver has been married to some designing
widow?” Mrs. Pitkin asked herself. “It is positively terrible!”

She did not dare to betray her agitation before Mrs. Vangriff, and
sat on thorns till that lady saw fit to take leave. Then she turned to
Alonzo and said, in a hollow voice:

“Lonny, you heard what that woman said?”

“You bet!”

“Do you think Uncle Oliver has gone and got married again?” she asked,
in a hollow voice.

“I shouldn't wonder a mite, ma,” was the not consolitary reply.

“If so, what will become of us? My poor boy, I looked upon you and
myself as likely to receive all of Uncle Oliver's handsome property. As
it is----” and she almost broke down.

“Perhaps he's only engaged?” suggested Alonzo.

“To be sure!” said his mother, brightening up.

“If so, the affair may yet be broken off. Oh, Lonny, I never thought
your uncle was so artful. His trip to Florida was only a trick to put us
off the scent.”

“What are you going to do about it, ma?”

“I must find out as soon as possible where Uncle Oliver is staying. Then
I will see him, and try to cure him of his infatuation. He is evidently
trying to keep us in the dark, or he would have come back to his rooms.”

“How are you going to find out, ma?”

“I don't know. That's what puzzles me.”

“S'pose you hire a detective?”

“I wouldn't dare to. Your uncle would be angry when he found it out.”

“Do you s'pose Phil knows anything about it?” suggested Alonzo.

“I don't know; it is hardly probable. Do you know where he lives?”

“With the woman who called here and said she was your cousin.”

“Yes, I remember, Lonny. I will order the carriage, and we will go
there. But you must be very careful not to let them know Uncle Oliver is
in New York. I don't wish them to meet him.”

“All right! I ain't a fool. You can trust me, ma.”

Soon the Pitkin carriage was as the door, and Mrs. Pitkin and Alonzo
entered it, and were driven to the shabby house so recently occupied by
Mrs. Forbush.

“It's a low place!” said Alonzo contemptuously, as he regarded
disdainfully the small dwelling.

“Yes; but I suppose it is as good as she can afford to live in. Lonny,
will you get out and ring the bell? Ask if Mrs. Forbush lives there.”

Alonzo did as requested.

The door was opened by a small girl, whose shabby dress was in harmony
with the place.

“Rebecca's child, I suppose!” said Mrs. Pitkin, who was looking out of
the carriage window.

“Does Mrs. Forbush live here?” asked Alonzo.

“No, she doesn't. Mrs. Kavanagh lives here.”

“Didn't Mrs. Forbush used to live here?” further asked Alonzo, at the
suggestion of his mother.

“I believe she did. She moved out a week ago.”

“Do you know where she moved to?”

“No, I don't.”

“Does a boy named Philip Brent live here?”

“No, he doesn't.”

“Do you know why Mrs. Forbush moved away?” asked Alonzo again, at the
suggestion of his mother.

“Guess she couldn't pay her rent.”

“Very likely,” said Alonzo, who at last had received an answer with
which he was pleased.

“Well, ma, there isn't any more to find out here,” he said.

“Tell the driver--home!” said his mother.

When they reached the house in Twelfth Street, there was a surprise in
store for them.

“Who do you think's up-stairs, mum?” said Hannah, looking important.

“Who? Tell me quick!”

“It's your Uncle Oliver, mum, just got home from Florida; but I guess
he's going somewhere else mum, for he's packing up his things.”

“Alonzo, we will go up and see him,” said Mrs. Pitkin, excited. “I must
know what all this means.”




CHAPTER XXVIII.

AN UNSATISFACTORY CONFERENCE.

Mr. Carter was taking articles from a bureau and packing them away in an
open trunk, when Mrs. Pitkin entered with Alonzo. It is needless to
say that his niece regarded his employment with dismay, for it showed
clearly that he proposed to leave the shelter of her roof.

“Uncle Oliver!” she exclaimed, sinking into a chair and gazing at the
old gentleman spell-bound.

Mr. Carter, whose back had been turned, turned about and faced his
niece.

“Oh, it is you, Lavinia!” he said quietly.

“What are you doing?” asked his niece.

“As you see, I am packing my trunk.”

“Do you intend to leave us?” faltered Mrs. Pitkin.

“I think it will be well for me to make a change,” said Mr. Carter.

“This is, indeed, a sad surprise,” said Mrs Pitkin mournfully. “When did
you return from Florida?”

“I have never been there. I changed my mind when I reached Charleston.”

“How long have you been in the city?”

“About a week.”

“And never came near us. This is, indeed, unkind. In what way have we
offended you?” and Mrs. Pitkin put her handkerchief to her eyes.

There were no tears in them, but she was making an attempt to touch the
heart of her uncle.

“Are you aware that Rebecca Forbush is in the city?” asked the old
gentleman abruptly.

“Ye-es,” answered Mrs. Pitkin, startled.

“Have you seen her?”

“Ye-es. She came here one day.”

“And how did you treat her?” asked Mr. Carter, severely. “Did you not
turn the poor woman from the house, having no regard for her evident
poverty? Did you not tell her that I was very angry with her, and would
not hear her name mentioned?”

“Ye-es, I may have said so. You know, Uncle Oliver, you have held no
communication with her for many years.”

“That is true--more shame to me!”

“And I thought I was carrying out your wishes in discouraging her
visits.”

“You also thought that she might be a dangerous rival in my favor, and
might deprive you and Alonzo of an expected share in my estate.”

“Oh, Uncle Oliver! how can you think so poorly of me?”

Mr. Carter eyed his niece with a half-smile.

“So I do you injustice, do I, Lavinia?” he returned.

“Yes, great injustice.”

“I am glad to hear it. I feel less objection now to telling you what are
my future plans.”

“What are they?” asked Mrs. Pitkin apprehensively.

“I have lived for ten years under your roof, and have had no
communication, as you say, with Rebecca. I think it is only fair now
that I should show her some attention. I have accordingly installed her
as mistress of my house in Madison Avenue, and shall henceforth make my
home with her.”

Mrs. Pitkin felt as if the earth was sinking under her feet. The hopes
and schemes of so many years had come to naught, and her hated and
dreaded cousin was to be constantly in the society of the rich uncle.

“Rebecca has played her cards well,” she said bitterly.

“She has not played them at all. She did not seek me. I sought her.”

“How did you know she was in the city?”

“I learned it from--Philip!”

There was fresh dismay.

“So that boy has wormed his way into your confidence!” said Mrs.
Pitkin bitterly. “After acting so badly that Mr. Pitkin was obliged to
discharge him, he ran to you to do us a mischief.”

“Why was he discharged?” demanded Mr. Carter sternly. “Why did your
husband seize the opportunity to get rid of a boy in whom he knew me to
be interested as soon as he thought I was out of the way? Why, moreover,
did he refuse the boy a reference, without which Philip could scarcely
hope to get employment?”

“You will have to ask Mr. Pitkin. I am sure he had good reason for the
course he took. He's an impudent, low upstart in my opinion.”

“So he is, ma!” chimed in Alonzo, with heartiness.

“Ah! I have something to say to you, Alonzo,” said Mr. Carter, turning
his keen glances upon the boy. “What became of that letter I gave to you
to post just before I went away?”

“I put it in the letter-box,” said Alonzo nervously.

“Do you know what was in it?”

“No,” answered Alonzo, but he looked frightened.

“There were ten dollars in it. That letter never reached Phil, to whom
it was addressed.”

“I--don't know anything about it,” faltered Alonzo.

“There are ways of finding out whether letters have been posted,” said
Mr. Carter. “I might put a detective on the case.”

Alonzo turned pale, and looked much discomposed.

“Of what are you accusing my boy?” asked Mrs. Pitkin, ready to contend
for her favorite. “So that boy has been telling lies about him, has he?
and you believe scandalous stories about your own flesh and blood?”

“Not exactly that, Lavinia.”

“Well, your near relation, and that on the testimony of a boy you know
nothing about. When Lonny is so devoted to you, too!”

“I never noticed any special devotion,” said Mr. Carter, amused. “You
are mistaken, however, about Philip trying to injure him. I simply asked
Philip whether he had received such a letter, and he said no.”

“I dare say he did receive it,” said Mrs. Pitkin spitefully.

“We won't argue the matter now,” said the old gentleman. “I will only
say that you and Alonzo, and Mr. Pitkin also, have gone the wrong way
to work to secure my favor. You have done what you could to injure two
persons, one your own cousin, because you were jealous.”

“You judge me very hardly, uncle,” said Mrs. Pitkin, seeing that she
must adopt a different course. “I have no bad feeling against Rebecca,
and as to the boy, I will ask my husband to take him back into the
store. I am sure he will do it, because you wish it.”

“I don't wish it,” answered Mr. Carter, rather unexpectedly.

“Oh, well,” answered Mrs. Pitkin, looking relieved, “that is as you
say.”

“I have other views for Philip,” said Mr. Carter. “He is with me as my
private secretary.”

“Is he living with you?” asked his niece, in alarm.

“Yes.”

“There was no need of taking a stranger, Uncle Oliver. We should be glad
to have Alonzo act as your secretary, though of course we should want
him to stay at home.”

“I shall not deprive you of Alonzo,” said Mr. Carter, with a tinge of
sarcasm in his tone. “Philip will suit me better.”

Mr. Carter turned and resumed his packing.

“Are you quite determined to leave us?” asked Mrs. Pitkin, in a subdued
tone.

“Yes; it will be better.”

“But you will come back--say after a few weeks?”

“No, I think not,” he answered dryly.

“And shall we not see you at all?”

“Oh, I shall call from time to time, and besides, you will know where I
am, and can call whenever you desire.”

“People will talk about your leaving us,” complained Mrs. Pitkin.

“Let them talk. I never agreed to have my movements controlled by
people's gossip. And now, Lavinia, I shall have to neglect you and
resume my packing. To-morrow I shall bring Philip here to help me.”

“Would you like to have Alonzo help you, Uncle Oliver?”

This offer, much to Alonzo's relief, was declined. He feared that he
should be examined more closely by the old gentleman about the missing
money, which at that very moment he had in his pocket.

Mrs. Pitkin went down stairs feeling angry and baffled. All that she
had done to retain her ascendency over Uncle Oliver had failed, and Mrs.
Forbush and Philip seemed to have superseded herself and Alonzo in his
regard. She conferred with Mr. Pitkin on his return from the store,
but the more they considered the matter the worse it looked for their
prospects.

Could anything be done?



CHAPTER XXIX.

A TRUCE.

No more distasteful news could have come to the Pitkins than to learn
that Philip and their poor cousin had secured a firm place in the good
graces of Uncle Oliver. Yet they did not dare to show their resentment.
They had found that Uncle Oliver had a will of his own, and meant to
exercise it. Had they been more forbearing he would still be an inmate
of their house instead of going over to the camp of their enemies, for
so they regarded Mrs. Forbush and Phil.

“I hate that woman, Mr. Pitkin!” said his wife fiercely. “I scorn such
underhanded work. How she has sneaked into the good graces of poor,
deluded Uncle Oliver!”

“You have played your cards wrong, Lavinia,” said her husband peevishly.

“I? That is a strange accusation, Mr. Pitkin. It was you, to my
thinking. You sent off that errand boy, and that is how the whole thing
came about. If he had been in your store he wouldn't have met Uncle
Oliver down at the pier.”

“You and Alonzo persuaded me to discharge him.”

“Oh, of course it's Alonzo and me! When you see Rebecca Forbush and that
errand boy making ducks and drakes out of Uncle Oliver's money you may
wish you had acted more wisely.”

“Really, Lavinia, you are a most unreasonable woman. It's no use
criminating and recriminating. We must do what we can to mend matters.”

“What can we do?”

“They haven't got the money yet--remember that! We must try to
re-establish friendly relations with Mr. Carter.”

“Perhaps you'll tell me how?”

“Certainly! Call as soon as possible at the house on Madison Avenue.”

“Call on that woman?”

“Yes; and try to smooth matters over as well as you can. Take Alonzo
with you, and instruct him to be polite to Philip.”

“I don't believe Lonny will be willing to demean himself so far.”

“He'll have to,” answered Mr. Pitkin firmly.

“We've all made a mistake, and the sooner we remedy it the better.”

Mrs. Pitkin thought it over. The advice was unpalatable, but it was
evidently sound. Uncle Oliver was rich, and they must not let his money
slip through their fingers. So, after duly instructing Alonzo in his
part, Mrs. Pitkin, a day or two later, ordered her carriage and drove in
state to the house of her once poor relative.

“Is Mrs. Forbush at home?” she asked of the servant.

“I believe so, madam,” answered a dignified man-servant.

“Take this card to her.”

Mrs. Pitkin and Alonzo were ushered into a drawing-room more elegant
than their own. She sat on a sofa with Alonzo.

“Who would think that Rebecca Forbush would come to live like this?” she
said, half to herself.

“And that boy,” supplemented Alonzo.

“To be sure! Your uncle is fairly infatuated.”

Just then Mrs. Forbush entered, followed by her daughter. She was no
longer clad in a shabby

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