“I wonder whether this is all a dream,” thought the mystified Ben. “If it is I shall be sorry to wake up.”
He drew the roll of bills from his pocket, and this gave him an assurance that it was no dream, but a very fortunate reality.
CHAPTER XXVI.
BEN’S STRANGE PROSPERITY.
Ben had been long enough in the city to know where to go for his purchases. He laid in a great stock of underclothing of excellent quality, and bought a steamer trunk, as instructed by Mrs. Harcourt.
All the articles were sent to the hotel, and in the evening he packed the trunk. He did not understand why he was bidden to buy a steamer trunk, as those of the ordinary kind were more capacious.
The next morning after breakfast Mrs. Harcourt said suddenly, “Where do your friends live? In the city?”
“No; in the country.”
“Have you parents?”
“Yes, a mother and a stepfather.”