Stranica 220 [220]
XV
fornia, and he returned under very comfortable circumstances.
Just before his going, Mr. Havisham had an interview with
him in which the lawyer told him that the Earl of Dorincourt wished
to do something for the boy who might have turned out to be Lord
Fauntleroy, and so he had decided that it would be a good plan to
invest in a cattle ranch of his own, and put Ben in charge of it on
terms which would make it pay him very well, and which would
lay a foundation for his son’s future. And so when Ben went away,
he went as the prospective master of a ranch which would be almost
as good as his own, and might easily become his own in time, as
indeed it did in the course of a few years; and Tom, the boy, grew
up on it into a fine young man and was devotedly fond of his father ;
and they were so successful and happy that Ben used to say that
Tom made up to him for all the troubles he had ever had.
But Dick and Mr. Hobbs—who had actually come over with
the others to see that things were properly looked after—did not
return for sometime. It had been decided at the outset that the Earl
would provide for Dick, and would see that he received a solid educa¬
tion; and Mr. Hobbs had decided that as he himself had left a reliable
substitute in charge of his store, he could afford to wait to see the
festivities which were to celebrate Lord Fauntleroy’s eighth birthday.
All the tenantry were invited, and there were to be feasting and dancing
and games in the park, and bonfires and fire-works in the evening.
B: took his boy and went back to his cattle ranch in Cali¬
200