"Open the other letter, mother," said Alice.
Mrs. Baker did so, and, glancing over it rapidly, uttered a quiet exclamation of surprise and dismay.
"Alice," she said, "Ben has sailed for Europe!"
"Gone to Europe, and without bidding us good-by!"
"He did not have any chance," and Mrs. Baker read Ben's letter.
When she came to think it over, she felt that Ben was, on the whole, fortunate to have so good an opportunity of seeing the world; and as to dangers and risks, God would take care of him abroad as well as at home. She would have liked to have known the man who had her boy in charge. Doubtless he must have taken a fancy to Ben, or he would not have given him such a chance.
CHAPTER XV.
Filippo Novarro.
Nicholas Walton was well pleased with the good fortune of his nephew. Though a selfish man, he was not wholly without a conscience and a heart. He had always regretted the manner in which he had possessed himself of the large sum of money which, by enabling him to take a store on Broadway, and largely extend his business, had allowed him to take a place among the foremost merchants of New York. He would have preferred to compass his own fortune without bringing ill-fortune to his brother-in-law, but if the thing had to be done again, under the same circumstances, he would probably have yielded to the same temptation.