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IX.—THE RETURN TO PHILADELPHIA.
Benjamin Franklin felt much disappointed when his father refused to help send him to England. But he was not discouraged.
In a few weeks he was ready to return to Philadelphia. This time he did not have to run away from home.
His father blessed him, and his mother gave him many small gifts as tokens of her love.
"Be diligent," said his father, "attend well to your business, and save your money carefully, and, perhaps, by the time you are twenty-one years old, you will be able to set up for yourself without the governor's help."
All the family, except James the printer, bade him a kind good-bye, as he went on board the little ship that was to take him as far as New York.
There was another surprise for him when he reached New York.
The governor of New York had heard that there was a young man from
Boston on board the ship, and that he had a great many books.
There were no large libraries in New York at that time. There were no bookstores, and but few people who cared for books.