academy, Dick's millions had been a handicap to him. The son of Mortimer Hamilton, of Hamilton Corners, himself a millionaire many times, Dick had inherited a large fortune from his mother, who had been dead some years; but, as told in the first volume of this series, entitled "Dick Hamilton's Fortune," he was not to have the use of this money until he had complied with certain conditions of Mrs. Hamilton's will.
One stipulation was that Dick must make a paying investment of some of his funds within a year. If he did not do this he was to go and live with a crabbed old uncle, named Ezra Larabee, of Dankville, and attend a boarding school of that relative's selection
Dick had a taste of what he might expect of his uncle, when he paid a week's visit to Dankville, and he at once made up his mind that if hard work would accomplish it, he would make that paying investment, for he realized that he never could stand life with his uncle and aunt.
The young millionaire tried several schemes for making money, from buying real estate to purchasing shares in a gold mine, but, one after another, they all failed, and the lad was on the verge of having to go and dwell in the gloomy Dankville house, called "The Firs."
How Dick fulfilled the conditions of the will, most unexpectedly, from a small investment he made for a poor youth named Henry Darby, how Grit, the bulldog, routed Uncle Ezra when he
