much of the increase in the business
of the Damietta office was due to Ben alone. This became known to those
above him, and they felt that an unusual promotion on his part would not
only be a just recognition of his ability and devotion, but would do much
to stimulate others to imitate the good example set by the boy.

In addition to all this, it cannot be denied that fortune favored Ben in
a marked degree. The fact that he was swept down the river in the
darkness and tempest, while trying to deliver a telegram for a messenger
who was ill, and that he saved the life of a little girl, could not fail
to operate strongly to his benefit. But he would have reached the end all
the same, without these aids, just as you, my young friend, may attain
the topmost round by climbing up, up, up, step after step, step after
step.

There is no cup in this life without some drops of bitterness, and,
despite the promotion of Ben, which he fully appreciated, he was cast
down by another circumstance, which troubled him more than he would admit
to his closest friends.

He had not seen sweet Dolly Willard since the grand children's party at
Mr. Grandin's, more than two years previous. She had written him
regularly every week for months, and he had been equally prompt in
answering. Ben wrote a beautiful hand, and his missives to Dolly were
long and affectionate. She would have visited her cousins in Damietta,
had they not made a visit to Europe, which shut off the possibility of
her doing so for some time to come.

Ben felt that under the circumstances it was hardly the thing for him to
make a call upon Dolly in New York, though she invited him to do so.

But during the very week that Ben was given charge of the Damietta
office, the mail failed to bring the usual letter from Dolly. He waited
impatiently for several days and then wrote to her. There was no response
to this, and he felt resentful. He held out for a fortnight, and then was
so worried that he was forced to write again. But this was equally
fruitless of results, and he became angry.

"She is getting to be quite a large girl; her folks are wealthy, and she
has begun to realize that I am nothing but a poor telegraphist. Her folks
have told her she must look higher, and she has come to that same mind
herself. Ah, well; let it be so!"

That was expressive of his feelings. Sometimes Ben felt like rebelling
against his fate. He had applied himself hard for years; he possessed an