TOM TURNER'S LEGACY by Horatio Alger 

The Story of How He Secured that Legacy 

ILLUSTRATED -   Young Tom faces arrest for theft, the schemes of a greedy cousin, and working in New York city before meeting with success.  Tom Turner lives with his widowed mother. When his mother's uncle dies, he includes them in his will, but the appraised assets are found to be worthless. They inherit some money and a trunk containing old, clothes.
Hannibal Carter, one of the heirs of the uncle's estate, suspects that Tom's trunk contains stocks and bonds that might be worth a fortune. He tries various schemes to acquire the trunk. Tom is suspicious of Carter's interest in the trunk and decides to examine it. He discovers that Carter is in fact on to something: it contains a letter from his uncle, whose instructions change Tom’s humble destiny.

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