At length the stage reached its destination. With a flourish the driver drew up in front of the Portville House, a hotel of moderate size, yet large enough to accommodate all the travelers likely to stand in need of shelter.

Walter got out, and taking his carpetbag, which was handed down from the roof, where it had been stored with other parcels, entered the inn. General Wall and his son retained their places, and the driver, after a short pause, set out to leave them at their own house.

Walter entered the barroom, which was at the same time the office, and asked if he could be accommodated with a room.

“You can have your choice of half a dozen,” said the landlord. “We ain’t crowded just at present.”

“Put me in any. I am not particular as long as it’s comfortable.”

“Will you go up now?”

“Yes, I think so. How soon will supper be ready?”

“In half an hour.”

“Very well, I’ll be down.”

Walter entered himself in the hotel register as Gilbert Howard, the name he had assumed. It was the name of a schoolmate at the Essex Classical Institute, and the first one that had occurred to him. It was not altogether agreeable to Walter to pass under an assumed name. It seemed like sailing under false colors. He had, however, a great respect for the judgment of Mr. Shaw, and the circumstances seemed to require it. Under his own name he realized that it would be impossible to learn anything of Mr. Wall’s fraudulent purposes. Now there seemed a very good chance of doing so. Indeed, he had already learned something from the conversation he had overheard in the stage.

After washing his face and hands, he descended to the public room, and in a short time supper was ready. It was not a luxurious supper, but a good, plain meal, to which his appetite enabled him to do full justice.

There were five other guests besides himself. These, however, were regular boarders. On the opposite side of the table were a man of middle age and his wife. These Walter learned were Mr. and Mrs. Carver. The former had something to do with a manufacturing establishment recently opened, and was boarding at the hotel with his wife, until he could find a suitable house. There were also a young man, employed as clerk in one of the village stores, and his sister. His name was Jones--a young man with nothing striking about him. His sister wore ringlets, and doted on the poets, of whom she did not know much. The fifth guest was a tall young man, of sickly appearance. He was narrow-chested and had inherited a consumptive tendency. His lungs being weak, he had left Vermont for the West, in the hope that the more equable climate might be favorable to his health. Unfortunately it did not produce the desired effect. He coughed at intervals during the meal, and the hard, dry cough had an alarming sound.

“You have a hard cough,” said Walter, who sat beside him at the table.

“Yes, it seems to be getting worse,” said the young man. “I came out here, thinking I might be benefited by the change of climate.”

“Then you are not a native of Wisconsin?”

“I was born and brought up in Vermont.”

“And I am from the State of New York.”

“Indeed. Have you just arrived from the East?”

“It is several months since I left home. I have been traveling in Ohio.”

“I am glad to meet one who comes from near home. Will you come up into my room after supper?”

“I shall be glad to do so. I have no friends or acquaintances here, and I might be rather dull by myself.”

“What may I call you?”

“Gilbert Howard.”

“My name is Allen Barclay.”

“Have you boarded at this hotel long?”

“Ever since I came to Portville. That is four months since. By way of further introduction, I will mention that I am a teacher, and keep the grammar school in the village.”

Walter was glad to hear this. He felt that he should take more pleasure in his companion’s society since their tastes were probably somewhat similar. Though his life for a few months had been an active one, he had by no means lost his relish for study, nor had he given up his intention of resuming his studies at some time. In case he should realize five per cent. on the mining shares, this would amount to five thousand dollars, a sum with which he would be justified in continuing his preparation for college, and a four years’ collegiate course. He estimated that his expenses as a student would not average more than five hundred dollars a year, and as the interest would amount to considerable--three hundred dollars the first year--he concluded that he could educate himself, and have considerably more than half his capital left to start in life with, when his education was complete. I mean, of course, his college education, for, strictly speaking, one’s education is never complete, and those who attain eminence in any branch are willing to confess themselves perpetual learners.

But, while these speculations were very pleasant, the five thousand dollars were not yet in his possession. To gain them he must learn more of General Wall and his schemes, and to this object he resolved to devote himself in earnest. He had no settled plan. Indeed, without considerably more knowledge of how the land lay it was impossible to decide upon any. He must be guided by circumstances, ready to avail himself of any favorable turn which affairs might take.

“This way, please,” said Allen Barclay, leading the way out of the dining-room.

His room was on the second floor, and though hotel chambers are in general--at any rate, in country towns--the reverse of pleasant or comfortable, this room looked both. There was an open fire in the grate which blazed pleasantly. Before the fire a cosy armchair was drawn up. Next to it was a table covered with books. Two or three pictures hung on the walls, and books and pictures do a great deal to give a homelike appearance to an apartment.

“You look very comfortable here, Mr. Barclay,” said Walter.

“Yes, I have made the room pleasant. The books and pictures I brought with me, and the armchair I bought in the village. I am sensitive to cold, and so of late, as the weather has become colder, I have had a fire lighted just before I come home in the afternoon.”

“Have you any scholars in Latin?” asked Walter, seeing a copy of “CÆsar’s Commentaries” on the table.

“One--John Wall, the son of General Wall, the most prominent man in Portville.”

“I have already made the young gentleman’s acquaintance,” said Walter, smiling.

“Indeed!” returned Allen Barclay, in surprise.

“I met him in the stage. I don’t think we were either of us very favorably impressed with the other.”

Here he gave a brief account of the altercation between himself and John.

“What you say does not surprise me,” said the teacher. “John is a thoroughly selfish, disagreeable boy, with a very lofty idea of himself and his position as the son of a rich man. He considers himself entitled to the best of everything. I am glad you did not give way to him.”

“I am too independent for that,” answered Walter. “I don’t allow myself to be imposed upon if I can help it, though I hope I am not often disobliging.”

“You had no call to yield to him to-day.”

“So I thought. What sort of a scholar is he?”

“John Wall? Very poor. He will never set the river on fire with his learning or talents. In fact, if he were a better scholar, I might feel different about teaching him. I have only had an academy education, and have not been beyond CÆsar myself. However, I have no trouble in keeping ahead of John.”

Here Mr. Barclay was seized with a violent attack of coughing, which seemed to distress him.

“I don’t think I shall be able to keep on teaching,” he said, when the fit was over. “The climate does not agree with me, and I shall not be willing to run the risk of wintering here. If I could only find some one to take my place as teacher, I would leave at once. It is the middle of the term, and I don’t want the school closed.”

An idea came to Walter. He was a good English scholar--had been as far in Latin as his companion--and was probably qualified to teach any scholars he was likely to have. It was desirable that he should have something to do, which would serve as a good excuse for remaining in Portville. Why should he not offer to supply Barclay’s place, since he thought it necessary to resign?