ibution
would come upon him, and that you might be restored to your rights. I
have heard that he closed up the business, and removed farther West,
having proved, by a witness whom he bribed, that you had been drowned
in the Ohio River. The body of a poor boy was exhibited as yours.

"If you ever meet James Grey, you will recognize him by this
description. He is a large man, with a square face, gray eyes, and a
scar on his right cheek, an inch long. I don't know where he got the
scar, but it is always red, especially when he is excited."

Tom dropped the paper in his amazement.

"Why," he soliloquized, "it must be the man whose boots I blacked one
morning before the Astor House. He must have knowed me, or he wouldn't
have asked so many questions."

CHAPTER VII.

TOM TURNS OVER A NEW LEAF.

The communication which he had just read gave Tom much to think of. Up
to this time he knew nothing of his past history. Now a clear light was
thrown upon it, and it remained for him to decide what he would do. He
knew as much as this, that the man who had wronged him was still
living. Where he lived was unknown. That was the first thing to
discover. The next was, to make him disgorge the property of which he
was in unlawful possession. It seemed wonderful to Tom to reflect that,
if he had his rights, he would be heir to a large fortune.

"There's a lot of money lyin' around loose somewheres that belongs to
me," said Tom to himself. "Blest if it don't seem like a dream. I'd
like to set eyes on that old feller with a scar again."

Tom leaned his head on his hand, and devoted five minutes to
reflection. During that brief interval, he made up his mind what to do.
He would leave New York, giving up his business into other hands, and
set his face westward, in search of his fraudulent guardian and his
fortune. He might have been embarrassed about this, but for the
opportune legacy of old Jacob. It wasn't very large, but it would, at
all events, start him on his journey. Then he must trust to luck and
his own exertions for the rest.

He was not in the least afraid but that he could get along. He had
supported himself for years, and he knew he could again.

I may as well warn my young readers here that there is no occasion for
them to forsake comfortable homes to follow Tom's example.
Circumstances alter cases, and, what was right for Tom, would not be
right for them. I have in mind the case of two boys who left
comfortabl