BY THE TRUSTEES OF THE PRESBYTERIAN BOARD
OF PUBLICATION AND SABBATH-SCHOOL WORK

_Copyright, 1903_
By L. C. PAGE & COMPANY
(INCORPORATED)
_All rights reserved_

Published August, 1903

_Fourth Impression, February, 1907_

_Colonial Press_
Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co.
Boston, Mass., U. S. A.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

"'ALEC,' HE SAID, PAUSING IN THE DOORWAY,
'WHAT'S A GREEN GOODS MAN?'" (_See page 75_)
_Frontispiece_

"'YOU'RE BOUND TO HEAR IT SOMETIME'" 19

"'THE LORD HAS CERTAINLY SENT YOU,
DICK'" 57

"HE MADE SEVERAL RAPID CALCULATIONS ON
THE BACK OF THE ENVELOPE" 109

"'IT'S THE FIRST MONEY I EVER EARNED IN
MY LIFE,' SHE SAID, GLEEFULLY" 117

"HIS HAND WENT UP INVOLUNTARILY TOWARD
HIS HAT" 145

"HE BLURTED OUT HIS TROUBLE IN BROKEN
SENTENCES" 161

"'IT WAS THAT UNLUCKY GOLD COIN'" 177

* * * * *

FLIP'S "ISLANDS OF
PROVIDENCE"

CHAPTER I.

Carefully locking the door of his little gable bedroom, Alec Stoker
put down the cup of hot water he carried, and peered into the mirror
above his wash-stand. Then, although he had come up-stairs fully
determined to attempt his first shave, he stood irresolute, stroking
the almost imperceptible down on his boyish lip and chin.

"It does make me look older, that's a fact," he muttered to his
reflection in the glass. "Maybe I'd better not cut it off until I've
had my interview with the agent. The older I look, the more likely
he'll be to trust me with a responsible position. Still," he
continued, surveying himself critically, "I might make a more
favourable impression if I had that 'well-groomed' look the papers
lay so much stress on nowadays, and I could mention in a careless,
offhand way something about hav