"You will have to do that, I'm afraid, Philip."

"But I am not afraid to work, father. Didn't you tell me one day
that many of our most successful men had to work their way up from
early poverty!"

"Yes, that is true; but a boy cannot always get the chance to earn
his living. Of one thing I am glad; you have a good education for a
boy of your age. That is always a help."

"Thanks to you, father."

"Yes; though an invalid, I have, at all events, been able to give
private attention to your education, and to do better for you than
the village school would have done. I wish I had some relative to
whom I might consign you, but you will be alone in the world."

"Have I no relatives?" asked Philip.

"Your mother was an only child, and I had but one brother."

"What became of him, father?"

"He got into trouble when he was a young man, and left the country.
Where he went to I have no idea. Probably he went first to Europe,
and I heard a rumor, at one time, that he had visited Australia. But
that was twenty years ago, and as I have heard nothing of him since,
I think it probable that he is dead. Even if he were living, and I
knew where he was, I am not sure whether he would make a safe
guardian for you."