r you: 'Flip's
Providence Islands,' or something like that."

Then the subject was dropped, as Macklin came clattering back up the
stairs.

* * * * *

If the history of Alec's experiences during the next few weeks could
have been written, it would have differed little from that of
thousands of boys who yearly leave farm and village to push their way
into the already overcrowded cities. Eager and hopeful, his ambition
placed no limit to the success he meant to achieve. That he might
fall short of the goal he set for himself never once entered his
thoughts. He knew the conditions requisite to success, and felt an
honest pride in the consciousness that he could meet them. He had a
strong, healthy body, a thorough education so far as the high school
could take him, good habits, and high ideals.

As the train whirled him on toward Salesbury, he felt that at last he
was placing himself in line with the long list of illustrious men who
had begun life as poor boys and ended it as the benefactors of
mankind. And he felt that he had a distinct advantage over Franklin
and some of his ilk, for he faced his future with far more than a
loaf of bread under his arm. Forward in the baggage-car his
grandfather's old leather trunk held ample provision for his present,
and an assured position awaited him.

Salesbury was not a large city, but it seemed a crowded metropolis to
Alec's eyes, accustomed to the quiet life of the little inland
village. But it was not as a gaping backwoodsman he viewed its
sights. If he had never seen a trolley-car before, he had carefully
studied the power that propels one. The whir and clang, the rush of
automobiles, the pounding of machinery in the great factory all
seemed familiar, because they were a part of the world he had learned
to know in his extensive reading. Keenly alive to new impressions, he
was so interested in everything that went on round him that he had
little time to be lonesome at first.

He stayed only a few days at the hotel. Anxious to repay his Aunt
Eunice as soon as possible the money she had spent in replenishing
his wardrobe after the fire, and defraying his travelling expenses,
he took a room in a lodging-house, and his meals at a cheap
restaurant. In that way he was able to save nearly twice as much each
week toward cancelling his indebtedness.

The letters he wrote home were re-read many times. They were so
bright and cheerful and f