hen he woke up in
the morning, no anxiety about the day's success. He could not have found
a better home. Naturally attractive, and without serious faults, Phil
soon won his way to the hearts of the good doctor and his wife. The
house seemed brighter for his presence, and the void in the heart of the
bereaved mother was partially filled. Her lost Walter would have been of
the same age as Phil, had he lived. For his sake she determined to treat
the boy, who seemed cast by Providence upon her protection, as a son.

To begin with, Phil was carried to the village tailor, where an ample
wardrobe was ordered for him. His old clothes were not cast aside, but
kept in remembrance of his appearance at the time he came to them. It
was a novel sensation for Phil, when, in his new suit, with a satchel of
books in his hand, he set out for the town school. It is needless to say
that his education was very defective, but he was far from deficient in
natural ability, and the progress he made was so rapid that in a year he
was on equal footing with the average of boys at his age. He was able at
that time to speak English as fluently as his companions, and, but for
his dark eyes, and clear brown complexion, he might have been mistaken
for an American boy.

His popularity with his schoolfellows was instant and decided. His good
humor and lively disposition might readily account for that, even if his
position as the adopted son of a prominent citizen had no effect. But it
was understood that the doctor, who had no near relatives, intended to
treat Phil in all respects as a son, even to leaving him his heir.

It may be asked whether the padrone gave up all efforts to recover the
young fiddler. He was too vindictive for this. Boys had run away from
him before, but none had subjected him to such ignominious failure in
the effort for their recovery. It would have fared ill with our young
hero if he had fallen again into the hands of his unscrupulous enemy.
But the padrone was not destined to recover him. Day after day Pietro
explored the neighboring towns, but all to no purpose. He only visited
the principal towns, while Phil was in a small town, not likely to
attract the attention of his pursuers.

A week after his signal failure in Newark, the padrone inserted an
advertisement in the New York Herald, offering a reward of twenty-five
dollars for the recovery of Phil. But our hero was at that time
wandering about the country, and the adverti