"I would have released her from her promise at once, if she had
expressed a wish to that effect. Now, I want to give you a piece of
advice."

"I don't want any of your advice," said Tom loftily. "I don't want
any advice from a store boy."

"I'll give it to you all the same. You can make money by minding your
own business."

"You are impudent!" said Tom, flushing with anger. "I've got
something more to tell you. You'll be out on the sidewalk before
three months are over. Father is going to foreclose the mortgage on
your house."

"That remains to be seen!" said Ben, but his heart sank within him as
he realized that the words would probably prove true.




CHAPTER X
BEN GOES TO NEW YORK


Pentonville was thirty-five miles distant from New York, and the fare
was a dollar, but an excursion ticket, carrying a passenger both ways,
was only a dollar and a half. Ben calculated that his extra expenses,
including dinner, might amount to fifty cents, thus making the cost of