"May I have this picture?" asked Philip, without answering her.

"Yes; you have as good a claim to it as any one."

"And the paper?"

"The paper I prefer to keep myself," said Mrs. Brent, nodding her head
suspiciously. "I don't care to have my only proof destroyed."

Philip did not seem to take her meaning, but with the daguerreotype in
his hand, he left the room.

"I say, mother," chuckled Jonas, his freckled face showing his
enjoyment, "it's a good joke on Phil, isn't it? I guess he won't be
quite so uppish after this."




CHAPTER III.

PHIL'S SUDDEN RESOLUTION.

When Phil left the presence of Mrs. Brent, he felt as if he had been
suddenly transported to a new world. He was no longer Philip Brent, and
the worst of it was that he did not know who he was. In his tumultuous
state of feeling, however, one thing seemed clear--his prospects were
wholly changed, and his plans for the future also. Mrs. Brent had told
him that he was wholly dependent upon her. Well, he did not intend to