ember 14.

"Mr. 'X.Y.Z.'--I have seen your advertisement in the Intelligencer. I am
in want of an intelligent and well-educated young man to act as my
confidential secretary and occasional amanuensis. If you will write to
me, enclosing testimonials and references as to your character and
competency, and stating the amount of salary you will expect to receive,
I hope we may come to satisfactory arrangement.

"Respectfully yours,

"RANDOLF MERLIN."

It was from Claudia's father, then! It was a stroke of fate, or so it
seemed to the surprised and excited mind of Ishmael.

Trembling with joy, he retired to the private parlor of the quiet little
village inn to answer the letter, so that it might go off to Washington
by the mail that started that afternoon. He smiled to himself as he
wrote that Judge Merlin himself had had ample opportunity of personally
testing the character and ability of the advertiser, but that if further
testimony were needed, he begged to refer to Mr. James Middleton, of
Rushy Shore. Finally, he left the question of the amount of salary to be
settled by the judge himself. He signed, sealed, and directed this
letter, and hurried to the post office to post it before the closing of
the mail.

And then he went home in a maze of delight.

Three anxious days passed, and then Ishmael received his answer. It was
a favorable and a conclusive one. The judge told him that from the post
office address given in the advertisement, as well as from other
circumstances, he had supposed the advertiser to be Ishmael himself, but
could not be sure until he had received his letter, when he was glad to
find his supposition correct, as he should much rather receive into his
family, in a confidential capacity, a known young man like Mr. Worth
than any stranger, however well recommended the latter might be; he
would fix the salary at three hundred dollars, with board and lodging,
if that would meet the young gentleman's views; if the terms suited, he
hoped Mr. Worth would lose no time in joining him in Washington, as he,
the writer, was overwhelmed with correspondence that was still
accumulating.

Ishmael answered this second letter immediately, saying that he would be
in Washington on the following Tuesday.

After posting his letter he walked rapidly homeward, calling at Rushy
Shore on his way to inform his friends, the Middletons, of his change of
fortune.