“Thank you, sir.  I will follow your advice.”

“I was mistaken in him,” thought Frank.  “I disliked him at first, but he seems inclined to be my friend.”

When Frank reached his lodging he found Jasper waiting up for him.  He looked thoughtful, so much so that Frank noticed it.

“You look as if you had something on your mind,” Jasper.

“You have guessed right.  I have read that letter.”

He drew from his pocket a letter, which Frank took from his hands.

“It is from an uncle of mine in Ohio, who is proprietor of a weekly newspaper.  He is getting old, and finds the work too much for him.  He offers me a thousand dollars a year if I will come out and relieve him.”

“That’s a good offer, Jasper.  I suppose you will accept it?”

“It is for my interest to do so.  Probably my uncle will, after a while, surrender the whole establishment to me.”

“I shall be sorry to part with you, Jasper.  It will seem very lonely, but I think you ought to go.  It is a good chance, and if you refuse it you may not get such another.”

“My uncle wants me to come on at once.  I think I will start Monday.”

Jasper saw no reason to change his determination, and on Monday morning he started on his journey to Ohio.

Thus, at a critical moment in his fortunes, when two persons were planning to injure him, he lost the presence and help of a valued friend.

CHAPTER XIII

THE SPIDER AND THE FLY

“Uncle,” said John Wade, “you spoke of inviting Frank Fowler to occupy a room in the house.  Why don’t you do it?  It would be more convenient to you and a very good chance for him.”

“I should like it,” said Mr. Wharton, “but Mrs. Bradley did not seem to regard it favorably when I suggested it.”

“Oh, Mrs. Bradley is unused to boys, and she is afraid he would give her trouble.  I’ll undertake to bring her around.”

“I wish you would, John.  I don’t think Frank would give any trouble, and it would enliven the house to have a boy here.  Besides, he reminds me of George, as I told you the other day.”

“I agree with you, uncle,” he said.  “He does remind me a little of George.”

“Well, Mrs. Bradley, what do you think I have done?” asked John, entering the housekeeper’s room directly after his interview with his uncle.

“I don’t know, Mr. John,” she answered.

“I have asked him to give that boy a room in the house.”

“Are you carried away with him as well as your uncle?”

“Not quite.  The fact is, I have a motive in what I am doing.  I’ll tell you.”

He bent over and whispered in her ear.

“I never should have thought of that.”

“You see, our purpose is to convince my uncle that he is unworthy of his favor.  At present that would be rather difficult, but once get him into the house and we shall have no trouble.”