Boy's
Fortune, A or, The Strange Adventures of Ben Baker. by Horatio Alger - book
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ILLUSTRATED Ben, a farm boy,
goes to New York and takes a job working in his rich uncle's department store,
unaware that his uncle made his fortune by robbing Ben's late father
Ben Baker, 16, leaves his widowed mother in
Connecticut, to seek his fortune in New York City. Five years earlier, Ben’s
father received an inheritance in bonds, then died suddenly while visiting his
brother-in-law, Nicholas Walton. When he arrives in New York, Ben calls
on his Uncle Walton, who rebuffs him. Ben is offered job as a personal
secretary if he will take the name "Philip Grafton" because he bears a strong
resemblance to a real Philip Grafton, who had died. The real Philip’s
guardian, Major Richard Grafton, fraudulently continues to receive a stipend
as Phillip’s guardian. The Major then "adopts" Ben to replace the deceased
Philip. To perpetuate the fraud, the Major takes Ben to Europe. When the
scheme is about to be exposed, the Major has Ben committed to an insane asylum
in Switzerland. Ben must escape to uncover the theft before it is too late.
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