Hector's Inheritance or, The Boys of Smith Institute. by Horatio Alger - book 
1-4115-0004-0

PAPERBACK ILLUSTRATED Told by his rich uncle he was adopted and therefore not entitled to his inheritance, young Hector is sent away to an unhappy life at a boarding school. Aka: Never Despair! (Nil Desperandum!); or, Courage Against the World. In the Atlantic Series.


When Hector Roscoe’s father dies, he expects to inherit the family homestead and accompanying riches. However, his unscrupulous uncle, Allan Roscoe, the administrator of the estate, has other plans. He claims Hector had been born in Sacramento, California, the son of a widow, which would mean that Hector is ineligible as an heir, and the estate would go to Allan Roscoe.
Without consulting Hector, his uncle puts him in a second-rate boarding school, Smith Institute. Things get so bad for Hector that he leaves the Institute and takes a train to New York City.
Hector walks along Madison Avenue, when he sees a little girl about to be run over by a carriage. Hector dashes out and saved the little girl. The girl's rich father, Titus Newman, impressed with Hector's courage and integrity, sends him on a personal errand to San Francisco.
While in San Francisco, Hector meets a minister who had lived in Sacramento at the time of Hector's birth, which proves to be the first step to recovering his inheritance.