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 Jona