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